He's Just Not That Into You
by forensicsfan
Summary: COMPLETE - A comment from Sophia has Sara doing a little soul searching with some surprising, or maybe not so surprising results (NS).
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them (and I also did not write 'He's Just Not That Into You' either). As always, coffee and scones are on me if George and Jorja have the time.

**Author's Note:** The idea for this came out of a discussion about Sara reading the book, 'He's Just Not That Into You'…if only she'd read it and move on…once again becoming that strong intelligent woman we all know she is deep down, and thus underscoring what Grissom is missing out on by not waking up and growing a back bone.

* * *

_"He's just not that into you." _

Sophia's words resounded in Sara's mind as she finished up her shift, pulling her duffel bag out of her locker before slamming the door shut. She knew the blond CSI was right, but for whatever reason, she felt she had to place the blame on herself for why Gil Grissom wasn't interested in her.

She let out a frustrated sigh as she walked out of the building to the parking lot. She'd worked for the Las Vegas Crime Lab for four and a half years and she had jumped at the chance to work with Grissom. They had connected at a continuing education seminar that he had taught up in San Francisco and she had to admit, there had been sparks. She had reasoned that when she was invited to come to Vegas to work with him that somehow she expected that those sparks would eventually ignite into a slow burning fire. How wrong she was. He had made it pretty clear when she overheard him interrogating Dr. Lurie several months back that whatever feelings he might have for her, she just wasn't worth the risk.

Sophia's words, however well intentioned, had just underscored the feelings of worthlessness that Sara struggled with. She tossed the duffel bag into the passenger seat and then climbed behind the wheel of her car. She had the next night off and she had been looking forward to spending some time catching up on her forensic journals, but now that was the last thing on her mind. She needed a diversion.

She wasn't really sure how she ended up wandering the aisles at Barnes and Noble, even she might have come up with a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon. But there weren't any movies playing that she was even remotely interested in and she really didn't have anyone she could call to spend time with.

_"He's just not that into you."_

Sara just couldn't get Sophia's words out of her mind as she perused the book titles on the shelves, sipping a latte that she'd gotten at the café on the way in. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to tell her that pining away after Grissom was a lost cause. And in reality, if she was honest with herself, she'd given up on him a long time ago. It was her own feelings of inadequacy that kept rearing their ugly head, and at some level, she felt that if she could have made him fall in love with her, it would have shown her that she was ok. No, the problem it seemed was with her, or at least it felt that way.

Sara almost snorted her coffee out through her nose when her eyes rested on the title of a book on the shelf in front of her _'He's Just Not That Into You'_. Curious, Sara lifted the volume from the shelf and settled herself in one of the many overstuffed chair scattered throughout the store and began to read.

It was a much different Sara Sidle who walked through the doors of the crime lab the next night and if someone was looking closely, they might be willing to swear under oath in court that there was an extra spring in her step.

Nick was leaning against the counter and looked at her curiously over his cup of coffee as she breezed into the break room humming to herself. He quirked an eyebrow. "Someone's happy." He had seen her look sullen so much over the last few months especially that seeing a smile on her face made him smile.

"I am." Sara walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee, taking a good sniff before she brought the dark liquid to her lips in hopes that it was Greg's Blue Hawaiian and not the sludge that dayshift tried to pass off as coffee.

Nick arched his brows. "What's his name?" The tone of his voice implied that she'd better tell all.

Sara smirked as she regarded him. "What makes you think there has to be a him?"

Nick pursed his lips together for a moment in mock seriousness. "No offense, Sar, but I didn't think you swang the other way."

Sara nudged his ribs with her elbow and shook her head as a smile tugged at her lips. "No guy, or girl for that matter, I just feel very free and it feels good."

Nick could tell that her comment was genuine and he nudged her back with his elbow. "Does this mean I can stop buying you hazelnut mochas to cheer you up?"

A realization dawned on Sara as she glanced over at him and her smile broadened as she lifted her coffee cup to her lips. "You can always buy me hazelnut mochas."

Nick chuckled good-naturedly. "I always knew you wanted me." It was the same flirtatious banter that he'd dished her way for four and a half years.

Sara arched her brows for a moment and then set her coffee cup down in the sink and bumped her hip into his before tossing a comment over her shoulder at him as she sauntered away, her hips swiveling a little more noticeably than normal. "Only because I know you want me."

There was just something in her tone that made Nick wonder if it was just part of the banter, or if there was something else to it. He just shook his head and drained the last of his coffee before heading off to find out if Warrick had gotten that warrant yet.

Sara was feeling pretty good as she walked into the locker room, but when she realized that Sophia was standing there, she felt a momentary sinking feeling, but then she steeled herself. Sophia had been blunt, but she had been right. "Hey."

Sophia glanced up and smiled. "Did you have a nice night off?"

Sara nodded as she pulled her gear out of her locker. "I caught up on some reading." She gave Sophia a conspiratorial look. "Very enlightening. I really should thank you."

Sophia looked a little surprised. "Thank me? Thank me for what?" She didn't recall saying anything in particular to Sara to be thanked for. Her comment that she just didn't feel that Gil was interested in Sara hadn't been received very well, and she was surprised that Sara was so friendly.

"For what you said." Sara replied in explanation. "It really cleared up a few things."

Sophia looked at her a bit skeptically. She highly doubted that one comment from her would have changed something that had reached legendary proportions in the realm of lab gossip.

Sara smiled kindly as she pulled something out of her bag that she'd just placed in her locker and held it out to Sophia. "I found this book. It pretty much said the same thing you did. You were right."

Sophia let out a chuckle. "_He'sJust Not That Into You_." She glanced up and offered a smile. "I really didn't mean to offend you."

Sara replied a bit philosophically as she took the book back and stowed it away. "It was true, and this showed me the evidence." She clipped her ID on her belt and closed her locker door.

Sophia smiled reassuringly as she shut her own locker. "If it's any consolation, Sara, he's missing out."

A smile pulled at Sara's lips as she considered what else that book had helped her to see with absolute clarity. "Well his loss is someone else's gain." However, getting that someone else to admit what Sara already knew was another story altogether.


	2. Chapter 2

Sara didn't even realize that she was humming to herself as she dusted a coffee table for prints as she and Greg worked the scene of a homicide until his words broke through her reverie.

"You sure sound happy." Greg had a smile on his face as he regarded Sara. He'd been working closely with her over the last few months and he'd been concerned at how it seemed that there was a shadow lurking over her soul. He hoped this change in demeanor was a mark of things to come rather than just a fluke.

Sara glanced up and felt the corners of her mouth turning upwards a bit self-consciously.

"It's just that you're smiling." Greg's smile widened. "I haven't seen one of those on you in a while."

Sara shrugged a little and then turned her attention back to the task at hand. "Life is good." She didn't want to delve into exactly why she felt her life was good, she was sure if she'd mentioned the book to Greg that he would launch into some explanation about how he was sure he was the perfect man for her.

"So your night off was good then?" Greg it seemed wanted more information. There was something in the back of his mind telling him that changes were afoot in one Ms. Sara Sidle, and his curiosity was piqued.

Sara couldn't help the smile that stole across her face and she glanced up. "Yeah, it was." For some reason, she just didn't feel compelled to say much more.

"Hot date?" Greg was clearly fishing now as he studied her.

Sara smirked and didn't look up. "We have a crime scene we need to finish processing, Greg."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Greg grinned smugly as he went back to photographing the scene.

Sara chuckled and looked up at him. "I did not have a date, ok? I just had a good night off." She felt a smile pull at her lips again. "It was enlightening."

Greg looked a little perplexed. "Care to share?" He was genuinely interested in whatever had caused her to be so happy, especially considering how somber she had looked when they'd worked together just two nights ago.

Sara had a bit of a restrained smirk on her face. "Not really." She didn't really feel like talking about what she'd been reading, and she really didn't want to tell him about what she suspected another CSI felt for her, especially considering the crush that Greg had nursed on her for about as long as she'd known him.

"Ok, but if you change your mind…" He left the words hanging out there as he pursed his lips together. "I've been told I'm a good listener." He couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face. "At least that's what Tiffany thinks." He seemed to puff his chest out just a little bit.

Sara raised a curious eyebrow at this little tidbit of information. "Tiffany?" By the look on Greg's face, she surmised that Tiffany wasn't just a passing acquaintance.

He responded in typical Greg fashion. "She's hot." He waggled his eyebrows. "And she likes me." He was obviously proud of this new relationship or whatever it was.

"New girlfriend?" Sara queried, glad that she wasn't going to have to deflate Greg's ego by turning him down.

"Well, we've been seeing each other for a couple of weeks; we haven't actually had that talk _yet_, but I think she'll be around for a while." Greg's grin was decidedly cheesy.

Sara giggled. "Good for you, Greggo." It was nice to see that someone around the lab had a love life to brag about.

"You could meet her you know." Greg continued to photograph and take notes as he talked. "We could double."

"To do that I'd need a date." Sara commented as she noticed a viable print to lift from the surface of the table.

"I bet we could get Nick to come along." Greg arched his brows as if to suggest that he knew something that she didn't.

Sara tried to restrain her smile at the mention of Nick's name. "I'm sure he doesn't need help getting dates."

"I didn't say he did." Greg continued, not quite catching the extra hue of pink in Sara's cheeks. "But he's a great guy, and you're a cool girl…"

His hint wasn't really all that subtle and Sara began to think that her suspicions were correct. "The crime scene Greg." Sara didn't want to further the discussion, but let out a soft laugh in spite of herself.

"Ok." He smiled. "But if I set it up, you have to come. You can both check out Tiffany and tell me what you think."

"I'd like to meet her." Sara smiled and stowed the lifted print from the coffee table into her kit. She reasoned that whether or not Nick came, she'd go and have a good time. She was done waiting around for a man to find her interesting enough to take a risk on. Of course if Nick did come, she wasn't going to sit back and ignore him either. They'd always flirted shamelessly with each other, perhaps this was the perfect opportunity to step things up a notch.

It didn't take much longer to wrap up their crime scene and head back to the lab. After they'd logged in the evidence, they headed towards the break room where Greg had assured her he'd brew a pot of Blue Hawaiian. They chatted as they waited for the coffee.

"So she's a kindergarten teacher?" Sara sounded a bit surprised as Greg told her about Tiffany.

"I met her at the bookstore one afternoon." Greg was beaming. "I actually accidentally ran into her and knocked a stack of children's books out of her arms, I helped her pick them up and we just got to talking."

"Is that fresh coffee I smell?" Nick sauntered into the break room with his senses on high alert, he was already halfway into a double shift and he was feeling it.

"Yeah." Sara smiled at him, noting how his whole face seemed to light up when he smiled at her. She wasn't sure why she hadn't paid more attention to her handsome coworker before.

"I was just telling Sara about Tiffany." Greg offered with a quirked eyebrow.

Nick spoke to Sara in a conspiratorial tone. "The way he talks about her, she might just be 'it'."

Sara giggled. "Our little Greggo is finally growing up."

"So, Nick, I was telling Sara that she needed to meet Tiffany. Maybe the two of you would want to join us on Saturday, a little drinking and dancing at Club Monaco…" Greg looked at the pair expectantly, holding back a smirk as both of them seemed to look momentarily flustered.

"Uh, Saturday..." Nick _did_ want to meet the woman that Greg couldn't seem to stop talking about lately, and he _really_ wouldn't mind spending an evening with Sara, but he wasn't exactly sure how she would feel about looking like they were on a date.

"I'm free." Sara replied confidently as she looked at Greg with a smile. Her decision to take the flirting up a notch with Nick seemed to empower her, and if he decided he didn't want to come, well, that was his loss.

"Yeah, I'll be there." Nick glanced at Sara curiously. She hadn't hesitated in the least about Greg's invitation, and suddenly he felt a surge of hope that maybe all this flirting went a little deeper than he'd first thought.

"Great." Greg was pretty pleased with himself and then gestured between the other two CSIs. "I'll let you two work out the details of your _date_." He put a little more emphasis on that last word than he probably should have, but what were friends for if they couldn't give each other a good push now and then?

Sara was thankful that the coffee was finally done and she turned around to pour herself a cup; hoping that neither Nick nor Greg could see the giddy smile spreading across her face.


	3. Chapter 3

Sara couldn't help but smile as she wandered past the break room towards the end of her shift. It appeared from the array of files spread out across the table that Nick was still working on his case, or rather asleep on his case. His head was down on one arm and the other was sprawled out with a pen barely hanging onto his fingers. Sara stopped in the doorway for a moment, watching him in amusement, before walking over and tussling his shortly cropped hair.

Nick awoke with a start. "I was just taking a break." He sat up and let out a yawn and then realized that it was Sara who had woken him up. An embarrassed smile spread across his face.

"Looks like you need to go home and get some sleep." Sara observed with a smile. The case she'd worked with Greg had wrapped up rather nicely for the time being and a plan began to formulate in her mind as she regarded Nick.

"I can't." Nick protested with another yawn. He gestured towards the files. "I've got too much to do."

Sara perched on the edge of the table, crossing her arms over her chest and quirking an eyebrow at him. "And just how much do you expect to get done if you're sleeping on the job?"

Nick flashed her a sheepish smile, knowing that she was right. "What time is it?"

"The end of _my_ shift." Sara smirked. She rested a hand on his shoulder and her smirk turned into a smile. "Why don't you let me drive you home, I have to come in early tomorrow anyway and I can just pick you up on the way in?"

Nick looked like he was seriously considering the offer. He _was_ exhausted and if he was honest with himself, really shouldn't be sliding behind the wheel of his SUV and driving himself home.

"Besides, we still have to talk about the details of our little _date_ with Greg and Tiffany." Sara still had a smile on her face and it widened almost imperceptibly at the thought that it might actually be a date, or at the very least, perhaps a precursor to a real date with Nick.

"Oh, yeah, _that_." Nick chuckled softly and then rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned back in his chair. He looked at Sara curiously. "Look, you know, we don't have to _call_ it a date if you don't want to, Sara." He wanted it to be a date, but he didn't want her to be uncomfortable if she wasn't into him.

Sara raised a single brow as if in challenge. "Who says I don't want to?" She wanted to leave the ball in his court and let him know that if he wanted to pursue her that she was going to let him. And if he didn't, well, then at least she'd know whether he had the backbone to act on his feelings, which from her observations were readily apparent.

Nick felt the corners of his mouth twitch up into a smile as he let out another chuckle. "Well then, it's a date." This was a very interesting turn of events as far as he was considered. He had wanted to ask her out for a while now, but he had picked up a vibe from her that she wouldn't be receptive to it, wouldn't be receptive if _any_ man asked her out. Whatever had caused the change, he liked it.

"Let me take you home, so you won't fall asleep at the wheel." Sara had already begun to close the files he'd fallen asleep on and stow them into a box for storage in the evidence vault.

As Nick watched her he wondered in the back of his mind if all of this was just some sort of sleep deprived hallucination. Sure he'd worked with Sara a long time and they'd often been to each other's homes outside of work, in this business coworkers were more like family than mere coworkers; but Nick was curious what prompted this sudden change in her that she wanted their outing with Greg and his new girlfriend to be a real date.

Sara glanced at Nick who it seemed was still in a bit of a sleepy daze. She had finished packing up the files and she stood there with an amused smirk on her face. "Hey, I'll put these away for you; go get your things out of your locker. Ok?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Nick yawned as he smiled and then stood up and just looked at Sara and the box she was holding. His brow furrowed just slightly as he considered what a date with her might be like. "Thanks for doing this." He gestured towards the box.

"Hey, don't get used to it." She smirked and then turned and headed out of the break room towards the evidence locker to return the box.

Nick just shook his head and let out another yawn and slowly made his way to the locker room to gather his things. A few minutes later he found himself standing in front of his open locker just staring, not quite sure why he'd opened it in the first place and realizing that it was a very good thing Sara had offered to drive him home.

"You know sleep deprivation has a similar effect on the body as intoxication does." Sara stood in the doorway of the locker room watching him with her arms crossed over her chest and her shoulder resting against the doorframe. "In fact somewhere around 50 percent of automobile accidents can be attributed to some sort of fatigue."

Nick nodded, a smile playing at his lips as he reached for his jacket and then closed his locker door. "Yeah, I know." Sara tended to ramble off statistics and factoids when she was nervous and it gave him some measure of pleasure that perhaps he might just be having that sort of effect on her.

"You ready to go?" Sara's head tilted slightly as she smiled at him. She really hoped she wasn't coming on too strong. She really didn't think Nick was awake enough to drive safely, but she also wanted an opportunity to talk a little more about this date, since Greg had left it up to them to meet him and Tiffany at this club that Sara knew pretty much nothing about.

Nick just nodded, suddenly aware of just how tired he really was as they walked out to her vehicle. He slowed his pace as they approached, watching her unlock the door and then smiling and letting out a chuckle as she opened the door for him. He quirked an eyebrow at her as he caught her eyes. "You know where I come from a man can be shot for letting a woman open a door for him."

Sara laughed, not quite sure if he was being serious until he winked. "My car, I have the keys." She dangled the keys in front of his face and then made her way over to the driver's side.

Nick slid into the passenger seat of her compact car and glanced at her as she turned the key in the ignition. "You mind if I ask you a question?" There was something that he'd been mulling over since he realized that he was going to have the pleasure of her company on Saturday evening.

"Sure." There was a moment of doubt in Sara's mind before she pushed it away and then smiled, craning her neck as she backed the car out of its parking spot.

Nick just wanted to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "You really want to call it a date."

Sara scoffed out a laugh trying to fight that sinking feeling. "I told you I did." She shifted into first gear and looked at him curiously. "Are you telling me you don't?"

She was willing to call his bluff because the last thing she wanted was to spend another four years pining after someone who didn't want to be with her, and she was willing to take the risk to push the issue because everything in that book that pointed out to her why Grissom wasn't into her, screamed out that Nick was.

A smile began to spread over Nick's face as he leaned his head back against the seat. "Oh, no, I want to call it a date. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't dreaming when you said that you wanted it to be one too."

Sara couldn't help but blush as she smiled widely and then tried to focus her attention on driving as she pulled out into traffic. "Oh."

"So since this is a date, what time do you want me to pick you up?" Nick wasn't about to waste this opportunity, he'd seen Grissom do just that time after time, not realizing just what he was passing over by not taking any action.

"Uh, seven?" Sara wasn't really the clubbing kind, and she really had no idea what time you went out for something like this.

"Ok, we'll go out and eat first and then meet Greg and Tiffany." Nick agreed with a mischievous smile. "Hey, Sara?"

"What?" The way he was looking at her made her feel a little nervous.

Nick looked at her inquisitively. "So are you gonna wear something sexy?" He reasoned that anything she wore made her look sexy, but he was curious if she wanted him to think she was sexy.

The thickness of his drawl when he spoke just then made Sara laugh and it gave her confidence as she arched both of her brows at him. "I guess you'll just have to wait and find out."


	4. Chapter 4

"Just a minute." Nick called out to the knock at his door. He had been far more tired than he'd anticipated and had only gotten out of the shower about three minutes before, having only rolled out of bed only ten minutes before that. At the moment he was tucking his shirt into his khakis and trying to get his pants zipped up before he answered the door.

Sara stood there with a smirk on her face a latte in each hand as the door open and she regarded Nick's wet hair. "I figured you might need one of these."

Nick took the latte she offered and opened the door wider to let her in, quirking an eyebrow as he took a sniff of the delicious aroma coming from the cup.

"Double tall, extra hot no foam, hazelnut mocha." Sara smiled before bringing her own latte up to her lips to take a sip.

A genuine smile broke over Nick's face as he set the cup on his coffee table and sat down on his couch. "I just need to put my shoes and socks on and I'm good to go."

Sara found it oddly fascinating the way he turned his socks inside out and shook them to ensure there was no lint inside before turning them right side out again and putting them on. He seemed to have a bit of a ritual with putting his shoes on as well and Sara seemed to remember a case they'd worked together where he'd mentioned how much he hated taking his shoes off. It seemed to make sense now and she let out a giggle before she had time to realize that she should probably stifle it.

Nick glanced up and looked at her quizzically. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." Sara feigned innocence and this time she did stifle a snicker.

Nick stopped and gave her a long stare.

"Ok, I'm just wondering if you have a ritual for every article of clothing; or is this just reserved for your shoes and socks." She couldn't help but tease him.

"Ritual." Nick quirked an eyebrow, wondering exactly what was wrong with the way he put his shoes and socks on. He had a very logical reason for what he did.

Sara smirked. "I'm just glad I didn't get here when you were putting your pants on, no telling how you do that."

Nick snorted out a laugh. "One leg at a time, just like you do." He waggled his brows. "Or do I need to give you a demonstration?" His tone was decidedly flirtatious.

"Uh, no." Sara smiled a bit mischievously. "Maybe some other time though, we need to get to work."

Nick felt his cheeks burn a little as he let out a low chuckle. "Sara Sidle." He just shook his head in amusement.

"What?" Sara feigned innocence as she took a sip of her coffee.

Nick picked up his coffee as he stood up and then walked over to where she stood, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "I think I'm beginning to look forward to this date more and more."

Sara's cheeks flushed a light shade of pink as she followed him to the door. As they walked out to her vehicle, she glanced over at Nick. "So what do you know about this Club Monaco?" She reasoned that Nick was more inclined to participate in the nightlife that Las Vegas had to offer and that he'd probably been to the club in question.

He shrugged. "Actually, I don't know much. I think it's a themed club, but I've never actually been there."

Sara looked a little worried. "A themed club?" She hoped that this didn't mean she'd have to wear a costume.

Nick chuckled. "You'll have to ask Greg. He said that Tiffany wanted to check it out."

As they climbed into Sara's vehicle, Nick turned towards her with an inquisitive look on his face. He'd had some time to think and he was very curious about the sudden change in her demeanor. "Sara, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"It's never stopped you before." She had a bit of a smirk flitting across her lips as she backed out of his driveway.

"Funny." Nick smirked back and then a more studied expression took over. "What's with the 'new' Sara Sidle." He raised a hand and shook his head as she glanced over at him ready to refute him. "No, hear me out. I'm not complaining. Just curious that's all. Whatever it is, I really like it." He smiled.

Sara wondered if she should tell him about the book, tell him about how it had given her clarity in regards to the Grissom situation and had given her quite a bit of insight into how she thought the man sitting next to her felt about her. A tiny smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. "Well, if you must know." She cleared her throat. "Sophia said something to me the other night, sort of pissed me off at first, but she was right."

Nick just quirked an eyebrow.

Sara continued. "I came to a realization that the reason that I was doing something wasn't because I actually wanted what I was after. It was more about winning at that point and proving something to myself instead of just letting go and moving on."

Nick looked slightly confused for a moment and then chuckled as something dawn on him. "You're talking about Grissom aren't you?" He grinned at her. "That's why you wanted to go out with me."

Sara wasn't sure why she felt embarrassed, she really hoped that he didn't think she wanted to go out with him just to prove that she was over Grissom. "It's not like that, Nick."

He regarded her curiously. "Then what is it like, Sara?" His tone was gentle, but he wanted to know if she was going out on a date with him as a rebound or if she was genuinely interested in him.

Sara let out a deep sigh and glanced over at him again. "I've been over him for a long time. I just needed someone, or something to make me realize why I was hanging onto something that was never going to happen."

Nick was confused. "Am I that someone?" He wanted a real chance at seeing Sara on a romantic level; he didn't want to do it if she was just looking for someone else to focus on, just for the sake of focusing on them.

"_No_." Sara replied quickly and probably a bit too forcefully. "No, Sophia just told me that she didn't think he was really that into me, and it pissed me off enough that somehow I ended up in a bookstore." She smirked. "Apparently there's an entire book on the topic." Her expression was a bit sheepish as she confessed all of this to Nick. "And after I read it, a lot of things became pretty clear."

"Uh, huh." Nick wasn't sure he was following her, but he was trying.

"I just kept thinking that if I could figure out what was wrong with me and change it that it would change how Grissom felt about me." She laughed and shook her head. "That sounds pretty stupid doesn't it?"

Nick offered her a sheepish expression. "It doesn't sound like the strong intelligent woman that I know you are."

Sara smiled at the compliment. "Anyway, I realized that it wasn't about me, it was about him, and that I didn't need to make him fall in love with me to be ok. I really didn't want him, I wanted to win."

Nick smiled inquisitively as she glanced over at him. "So where does that leave you and me?" He was beginning to realize that maybe, just maybe Sara might finally be seeing him the way he'd seen her for quite a while.

She quirked an eyebrow at him as a smug smile spread across her face. "Well let's see how that date goes on Saturday and I'll get back to you."


	5. Chapter 5

Sara wasn't sure why she was so nervous. Maybe it was because she was going on a date with Nick, and maybe it was because of the blouse she had chosen to wear on that date with Nick. In any case, she looked at herself critically in the mirror as she considered whether or not she should change into something decidedly more conservative for a first date. The blouse she had on looked conservative enough from the front, even with the deep V-neck, but the halter style of it left much of her back exposed. She had paired it with a pair of low slung black slacks and she had to admit that the effect was exactly what she was going for. She wanted to make it clear that she was willing to be caught if Nick was interested in pursuing her, not that she intended to sleep with him right off the bat; she just wanted him to get the idea that she was definitely interested in him.

Before she could change her mind about what she was wearing, she heard a knock at her door. The look on Nick's face was priceless as Sara opened the door. He took one look at her and his jaw dropped and then a smile took over his face.

Sara had a coy expression on her face. "So is this sexy enough for you?" She had a teasing tone in her voice as she opened the door wide to let him in.

Nick chuckled softly and looked at her appreciatively. "You look amazing." His eyes widened slightly as he realized what the back of her blouse looked like and he silently wondered if she'd let him kiss her. Her skin looked so soft and he just wanted to hold her in his arms and splay his fingers out across her bare back and caress it with his fingers.

"Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself." She took in the way his clothes accentuated his muscular physique and smiled.

Nick shook off the lusty cloud that threatened to envelope him and smiled. "So, I was thinking that we could eat at this little place I heard about before we head to the club." When Warrick had found out that Nick was taking Sara to dinner before they went out with Greg and his new girlfriend, he had chastised him not to blow it and had told him about a cozy romantic restaurant that served a wide variety of vegetarian friendly dishes. The fact that one of his friends owned the restaurant ensured that Nick and Sara would get first class treatment.

Sara's smile widened. "That sounds great." She was looking forward to spending some time alone with Nick, and she was hoping that her nerves would dissipate enough that by the time they went to meet Greg and Tiffany that she could let loose on the dance floor and just see where things led.

As they walked out the door of her apartment, Nick instinctively rested his hand at the small of her back, his fingers brushing against her skin, sending a shiver up her back. He raised an eyebrow at her curiously. "Cold?"

Sara felt a smile pull at the corners of her mouth as she glanced over at him, she was anything but cold and she shook her head. "No."

Nick grinned at the implication of her smile as they walked out to his rig, and as Sara reached for the door handle he arched his brows. "What did I tell you about a man being shot for not opening a door for a lady?" There was a definite teasing tone to his voice as he reached past her and opened the door.

As Sara slid into her seat, she glanced at Nick with a smirk on her face. "You're not going to do this when we're working a case together are you?"

Nick just smiled. "This isn't a case. This is a date." Of course in the back of his mind he fully intended to open doors for her any chance he got, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

Sara couldn't help but steal glances at Nick as they drove to the restaurant. He'd chosen a blue shirt and she'd always liked how that color looked on him. She felt her cheeks flush as Nick caught her looking and she pursed her lips together to keep from smiling.

"What?" Nick queried her, taking advantage of the red light they were sitting at to notice how soft and smooth her skin looked and how her blouse accentuated her body in all the right ways.

Sara giggled softly and turned to look at him. "You just look really nice." _Nice_ wasn't really the word she was thinking, but she reasoned that it was a little early in the date to say what was really on her mind.

"You do too." Nick stared at her for a long moment before her heard a car behind them honking because the light had change.

Neither one of them said much else on the way to the restaurant, just occasionally stealing glances and smiling. When they got there Nick realized that Warrick must have talked to his friend who owned the place because even though there was a significant crowd waiting to be seated, they didn't have to wait at all.

Sara looked at him curiously as the hostess showed them their table.

As they sat down, Nick smiled. "The owner is a friend of Warrick's."

"Ah." She arched her brows in understanding and wondered what else Nick had told Warrick about this evening.

They spent some time perusing the menu and after finally making a decision and placing an order, they found themselves just looking at each other as they waited for the waiter to bring them the wine.

Sara smirked. "This isn't awkward." She hadn't anticipated how going out on a date with a friend could be familiar and uncomfortable all at the same time. It was just new territory for her and she was at a bit of loss with what to do.

"It doesn't have to be." Nick's tone was soft and he smiled at her from across the table. The restaurant was indeed cozy, the lighting was just dim enough to be romantic and the table they'd been seated at was fairly secluded.

"So, Nick." Sara had a _look_ in her eye. "Why did you want to go out with _me_?" She had her suspicions, but she wanted to hear what he had to say.

He chuckled softly and then reached across the table and enveloped her hand with his, catching her by surprise and causing her heart to flutter as he looked into her eyes and began to caress the back of her hand with his thumb. "Because you're beautiful and you're smart and I love being around you."

Sara tilted her head slightly as a smile stole over her face. "Then why didn't we do this sooner?" The sensation his thumb was producing on the back of her hand was causing a series of flutters in the pit of her stomach and her question belied the nervousness she felt.

Nick smiled and chose his words carefully. "I didn't think you'd want to; until the other day anyway."

Sara smirked in an effort to keep things from getting too heavy. "Well I think I wanted to even before I knew I wanted to."

"Well then, I guess maybe we should do this again sometime." He wasn't sure he should be asking for a second date when they were barely into the first one, but he really liked Sara and he didn't want her to doubt his interest in her, especially after what she'd put herself through with Grissom and the man's lack of action.

Sara smiled at Nick as she saw the waiter approaching with their wine. "Maybe we should."


	6. Chapter 6

If Greg was surprised he didn't show it as he saw Nick and Sara walk into Club Monaco holding hands. It was evident from their body language that they weren't going to need the push that Greg had prepared himself to give them and that both pleased him and made him feel a pang of sadness. Even though he was falling hard for Tiffany, there would always be a soft spot in his heart for Sara Sidle.

"Hey, Greg." Sara was smiling as she and Nick approached Greg and the pretty young woman clinging to his arm that she surmised was Tiffany.

Greg grinned and gave Tiffany a look that could only be described as a uniquely affectionate 'Greg' look. "Tiffany, this is Sara Sidle and Nick Stokes."

Sara smiled at the other woman and shook her hand. "Greg's told me a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you." Nick extended his hand in greeting and as he spoke, a smile spread over Tiffany's face.

"Oh, you're from Texas." If her drawl was any indication, it was apparent that she was too. "I'm originally from Austin."

Nick nodded. "I'm from the Dallas area, most of my family is still there."

Tiffany's brow furrowed momentarily. "Stokes? You wouldn't be any relation to Justice Bill Stokes would you?"

Nick wished at that moment that he could crawl under a rug. No one in Vegas knew much about his prominent family other than that both of his parents were in law. The fact that his father was a sitting justice on the Texas Supreme Court wasn't something that had really come up in conversation. He smiled though and nodded. "Yeah, he's my dad."

Sara's eyes widened as she took in this little piece of information and she glanced over at Greg who seemed just as surprised as she did.

"Then you must know my dad Colt Prescott." Tiffany leaned into Greg as her smile widened.

"You're Tiffany Prescott?" Nick chortled. "The last time I saw you, you were…not this grown up." He smiled and let his words trail off as he realized he was going to say gangly.

"You know each other?" Greg looked at Nick and then at Tiffany quizzically.

Nick answered for both of them. "Yeah, our dads went to law school together."

"And they have quite the legendary stories." Tiffany added with a smirk.

Nick chuckled in agreement. "How is your dad?"

"He's good, about to retire, thinks your dad should too." Tiffany continued.

"I don't mean to break up this little reunion but I'm a little thirsty." Sara interjected with an amused smile. "Want me to get you anything at the bar, Nick?" There was part of her that wanted to feel insecure about how friendly Nick was being to Greg's girlfriend, but there was another part of her that knew she had to just be herself and let the chips fall where they may.

Nick gave Sara a thoughtful look. "Yeah, whatever you're having." He grinned at her and winked, feeling a thrill in his stomach as he felt Sara give his hand a squeeze before she meandered over towards the bar.

Greg wasn't sure what to think, he and Tiffany hadn't been seeing each other all that long, but the last thing he wanted was Nick making a play for his girl. He let out a nervous laugh. "You two could probably spend all night catching up."

Nick cast him an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, man." His gaze drifted over towards Sara and a smile spread across his face as he studied her curves from behind. She carried herself so confidently and that just made what she was wearing all that much more sexy to him.

"We have a table here somewhere." Tiffany slid her arm around Greg's waist to offer him reassurance that the only one she had eyes for was him.

By the time they located their table in the crowd, Sara had returned with the drinks for her and Nick and as she slid into the booth, she found herself sitting closer to him than she normally would have dared; a move that wasn't lost on Nick.

Nick was feeling rather bold too as he and Sara sipped a couple of beers while Greg and Tiffany went off to dance, he slid his arm across her shoulders and then leaned in and whispered huskily in her ear. "Have I mentioned how good you look tonight?"

Sara let out a knowing chuckle and glanced at him, reaching over and letting her hand rest on his thigh. "Have I mentioned that I'm a terrible dancer?"

Nick laughed and pulled her a little closer. "See, now, that's the nice thing about coming to a place like this. You don't have to dance unless you want to." He smiled. "Of course, there's not much skill involved when you dance in a place this crowded."

Sara took a sip from her beer and tried to stifle a smile. "Well then maybe we should give it a try." She began to slide out of the booth.

Nick took one long swig from his beer and started to scoot out of the booth after her, reaching for her hand and then pulling her onto the dance floor. As they moved with the music, Nick leaned towards Sara and tried to talk over the music. "You're a liar." He had a huge grin on his face.

"What?" Sara smirked, trying to keep her eyes off of the hip shimmy that Nick was doing.

"I said you're a liar." Nick smirked back. "You dance pretty well."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Just wait until I step on your feet."

Nick was pretty sure he could handle squashed toes if it meant he could watch Sara shake and shimmy in front of him like she was doing right now. Her smile seemed to widen the more she got into the music.

The song ended and a much slower number started and Sara smiled as she felt Nick slip his arms around her waist and pull her close. Her arms drifted over his shoulders and she let out a sigh as she felt his fingers splay out across her back. As much as she wanted to get lost in the moment, she was curious about the little tidbit of information that Tiffany had revealed about Nick. She looked up at him and smiled. "So how come I never knew your dad was a justice?"

Nick knew there was no way he was going to get out of this and he let out a soft chuckle. "How often does the Texas Supreme Court come up in conversation at work?" He really didn't want to spend the evening focusing on his father; he was more interested in focusing on Sara.

Sara smirked again. "Well we _are_ in law enforcement." The smell of Nick's cologne was a bit intoxicating and Sara found herself wishing very much that he would just kiss her.

Nick looked at Sara mischievously. "Do you _really_ want to spend the evening talking about my dad?" The way she felt in his arms had his mind running into dangerous territory, and he couldn't help but brush his fingers across her back.

Sara's laugh was sexy as she eyed his lips. "Not really." The ambiance of the club and the feel of his fingers caressing her back caused her to press into him a little more, and she was very aware of just how muscular his body was as his grip on her tightened slightly.

"Ok then." Nick's voice was husky and he decided that now was as good a time as any to get that kiss he'd been wanting since he'd picked her up at her apartment. He leaned down and softly touched his lips against hers and then pulled back to gauge her reaction. He didn't have much time to process it as Sara's hand cupped the back of his head and pulled him back down for another kiss, this one a bit more intense than the first. In the back of Nick's mind he reasoned that he was the luckiest man on the planet at that moment.


	7. Chapter 7

By the time Nick and Sara slipped back into the booth, Greg and Tiffany were already there. And judging by the expression on Greg's face, he had seen the kiss. He arched his brows as a smug smile flitted across his face. "You two seem to be having a good time." There was just something in his tone that indicated that he was expecting one of them to dish him some details.

"We're having a great time." Nick just smiled at Greg in such a way that told the lab tech turned CSI that no details would be forthcoming, especially any details that might happen _after_ they left the club.

"Yeah, thanks for inviting us." Sara couldn't stop smiling, whether it was from the dancing, the kissing, or the fact that Nick's hand was resting on her thigh, making slow caresses with his thumb, she was definitely having a good time.

Tiffany smiled over at Nick and Sara. "So Greg never did tell me how long you two have been seeing each other." She looked at them expectantly, and when neither of them immediately answered, she glanced at Greg. Noting the amused expression on his face and the slightly flustered expressions on Nick and Sara's faces, she furrowed her brow. "Let me in on the joke."

Greg let out a chuckled and arched his brows as he reached for his drink. "The last time I checked Nick and Sara weren't dating."

Tiffany looked at him quizzically and then over at Nick and Sara. "Sorry, I just assumed..."

Nick smiled at Tiffany while he reached for Sara's hand. "It's actually our first date." He glanced over at Sara, his smile widening. "Something that we probably should have done a while ago."

Sara acted completely unfazed by the fact that Greg was sitting right there and leaned up and kissed Nick. "Yeah, we should have." She was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and her confidence was radiant.

Greg looked a bit surprised. While he had sensed that his two friends might just be interested in each other, the looks they were giving each other were decidedly more serious than he had anticipated. "So I take it this won't be your only date."

Nick looked at Greg with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure Sara will let me have a second date."

Sara chuckled softly as she glanced at Nick. "Let's just see how this one goes and then we'll talk." They had already talked about the possibility of a second date, but she didn't want to appear overeager in front of Greg; the last thing she wanted was fuel for the rumor mill around the lab. Although, the more she'd worked with Greg, the more she found that if she really wanted him to keep a secret that he'd be willing to take it with him to the grave.

Greg found that utterly amusing and smirked. "Looks like the Stokes charm is losing a bit of its luster." Greg puffed his chest out a little and pulled Tiffany a little closer.

Nick looked a little put out by Greg's remark, but before he could say a word, Tiffany tossed her two cents worth. "Oh, I wouldn't bet on that, Greg." She gave Nick a knowing smile. "There are two things you can count on about Texas men, they've always got plenty of charm, and when they see a woman they want, they don't give up easily."

Sara giggled and glanced over at Nick who had a 'thanks a lot' look on his face as he stared down Tiffany. Sara smirked at Nick. "So is there anything else about Texas men that I should be aware of before we go on a second date?"

Nick noticed a little mischief in her eyes and winked. "I'm not sure if I should tell you." He was thoroughly enjoying Sara's company and he was sure he'd do whatever she wanted if it meant they could go out again.

Tiffany elbowed Greg and glanced at the dance floor before turning towards Nick and Sara. "I think we'll leave you two alone to discuss the great state of Texas; this music's too good not to dance to."

Nick chuckled as he looked over at Sara. "So what do you say?"

Sara cross her arms over her chest and tried to keep a restrained smile on her face. "Say to what?" She knew exactly what he was talking about, but she wanted him to say it.

He grinned at her. "Do you want to go out with me again?" Nick felt his heart flip as Sara's smile spread across her face, exposing the gap between her teeth.

"I suppose I would." She would never have thought just a few months ago that she would be out on a date with Nick Stokes and having the time of her life.

Nick nudged her with his hip. "Well since we have that settled what do you say we go back out and dance?"

Sara's smile widened. "I'd like that."

The rest of the evening at the club seemed to be a blur after that. Nick and Sara got lost in the music and each other and they had a vague recollection that Greg and Tiffany said goodbye at one point. It was nearly two by the time Nick pulled his SUV into the lot of Sara's apartment complex.

She glanced over at him and smiled as he turned off the ignition. "Do you want to come up and watch a movie or something?" Working the nightshift certainly had altered her body clock and despite the fact that Nick worked swing now sleeping at night seemed out of the norm for both of them.

"Yeah." Nick didn't really want the evening to end quite yet and he reasoned that he'd even watch a sub-titled chick flick if he could spend more time with Sara. The thought of kissing her without an entire crowd around them was pretty damn appealing too. His thoughts drifted to her blouse and he wondered just exactly how far Sara Sidle would go on a first date, and as he descended from the vehicle a few things surfaced in his memory that made him believe that anything past some intense kissing was going to be pressing his luck.

Sara smiled as Nick took her hand and she let out a nervous laugh as she fumbled for her keys to open the door to her apartment. As they entered, she kicked off her shoes and tossed her keys on the table next to the door. "You want anything to drink?" She headed into the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of water for herself.

"Whatever you're having is good." Nick watched with interest as she bent over and poked her head in the fridge, pulling out two bottles of spring water.

Sara blushed slightly as she straightened up and caught him looking. "I do have beer if you'd rather have that."

Nick's smile was lopsided. "No, I think water is just fine." The way he was looking at her was unveiled appreciation and as she walked over and handed him his water, he leaned down and softly kissed her.

Sara kissed him back, enjoying the tenderness of his lips as they moved against hers. She felt his tongue flicking out against her lips and his hands coming to rest on her hips, and a shock of cold from the bottle of water he still held. She let out a bit of a yelp and pulled back with an embarrassed smile.

Nick had a sheepish expression on his face. "Sorry." He set the water bottle down on the counter and took hers out of her hand and did the same. Resting his hands on her hips again, he ducked his head and kissed her again, smiling against her lips as he felt her arms drifting over his shoulders.

Sara's senses were overwhelmed by Nick at that moment and she was thoroughly enjoying his kiss and the feel of his hands on her hips.

Nick was feeling rather intoxicated by Sara and his judgment seemed to be impaired as he pulled her a little closer and then slid his hands down further; his kiss becoming more intense and hungry.

Alarm bells were going off in Sara's head that she needed to clarify a few things with Nick. And despite the delicious sensation of Nick's hands gripping her butt she reluctantly broke off the kiss, breathing a little heavily. "This is moving a little too fast."

"I'm sorry." Nick pulled away, raking a hand through his hair and looking at her apologetically. "I'm really sorry, Sara, I just got a little carried away." There was a worry that ran through his mind that maybe she was having second thoughts about wanting to go out with him again.

"No, Nick, no, don't be sorry." She was smiling and embarrassed all at the same time. "I just, well, it's just that I think we need to talk." She looked into his eyes and saw a flash of worry and decided to try and allay his fears. "I need to say something rather. I just don't want us to get caught up in the moment and do something that we're not ready for."

Nick relaxed a little as he realized she wasn't having regrets about going out with him.

Sara smiled. "Can we just take this a little slower? I don't want to end up in bed with you until I know where this thing between us is going. Ok?"

"Yeah, ok." Nick smiled and stepped towards her, reaching out to caress her cheek. "Now didn't you say something about a movie?"


	8. Chapter 8

Sara had felt the hunger in Nick's kiss and she had seen it in his eyes, and that both pleased and scared her. This step they'd taken to go on a date had definitely pushed things beyond the bounds of friendship; a friendship that had always felt safe and comfortable before. This new territory was going to take a little adjusting to, regardless of how tempting it was to let herself get carried away by the moment. Nick wanted her that was clear; what wasn't quite as clear to Sara was exactly how much she wanted Nick. She was definitely attracted to him, and the more that she spent time with him, the more attracted to him she became, but she had also spent the greater part of the last four years fixating on Grissom and she needed to let her feelings for Nick unfold at a natural pace without a physical relationship clouding the issue for her. She wanted to focus on someone because she cared about them and wanted to be with them, not because she saw it as a personal challenge to prove something to herself.

She felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach as she settled herself on the couch next to Nick and he slung an arm over her shoulder. Sara let out a giggle as Nick flicked the TV on with the remote.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "What?"

With the sound of some made for TV movie droning in the background, Sara smirked. "I feel like I'm on a date with the high school quarterback and your parents are going to come home any minute."

Nick smirked back at her. "I was a wide receiver actually, and _my_ parents are in Texas." He let out a soft chuckle. "Besides, this is _your_ apartment."

"I know that." She felt a slight pang of sadness at the state of her family, but quickly covered it up with a smile as she gently poked his chest with her finger and looked up into his eyes. "But for some reason I have a feeling that _you've_ had this scenario play out a time or two."

Nick laughed and reached out and wrapped his hand around hers and held it against his chest. "Maybe I have." Nick was hoping that his reputation wouldn't hinder his pursuit of Sara. He had thought about the possibility of being more than just friends with her for some time and as the evening had progressed he began to consider that because of their friendship, just casually dating each other just wasn't going to work. He wanted to be with Sara, in a relationship, and if she needed time, then he would give her time.

Why Sara had taken so long to notice what was right in front of her for so long baffled her and she smiled as she impulsively leaned up and placed a soft kiss against Nick's lips. She was definitely going to enjoy exploring these feelings she was having. She noticed Nick's smile as she pulled away and she felt a fluttering sensation in her stomach again. "I just wanted you to know I was having a good time."

"Good." Nick's smile spread into a grin and he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. "I'm having a good time too." He dipped his head and kissed her slowly, savoring the feel of her lips against his, and the taste of her mouth as she let him deepen the kiss. When they broke apart several minutes later, they were both grinning like fools.

"Maybe we should watch a movie." As much as Sara loved kissing Nick, she didn't want things to get too intense, especially after their earlier conversation. If her intuition was correct, there would be plenty of time for getting carried away sometime in the future.

"Maybe we should." Nick winked. "What have you got in mind?"

Sara really had no idea what movie she wanted to watch, she had just known when they'd pulled up in front of her apartment complex that she wasn't ready to say goodnight quite yet. She glanced at the TV. "We could just see what's on."

Nick furrowed his brow as he studied the scene on the TV before him and then turned back to face her with a sheepish grin. "You're not set on _this_ movie are you?" From first glance it appeared to be one of those melodramatic 'docudramas' loosely based on someone's life.

Sara tried to feign a serious expression. "Do you have a problem with this movie?" She knew that if she insisted, that Nick would watch the movie with her, but she wasn't remotely interested in it herself.

"No." His tone was teasing and he could tell that she was toying with him.

"Good because I was really looking forward to this one." She smirked as she settled herself back to watch the TV trying to look interested in why Shelly was seeing Dan even though her sister was engaged to him and she was married to his twin brother.

Nick watched Sara out of the corner of his eye and then reached over and poked her softly in the ribs.

"Hey!" Sara yelped and then giggled as Nick tried to tickle her. "The movie." She wasn't even paying attention to the movie anymore.

"You don't even like this movie." Nick was smiling as he watched Sara squirm.

"Ok, ok, we don't have to watch this." Sara finally got a hold of his hands and continued to giggle as she tried to catch her breath.

"That's what I thought." Nick had an amused grin on his face as she let go of his hands.

Sara smirked. "Ok, Mr. Know-it-all, what do you want to watch?" She crossed her arms over her chest as drank in the way his muscles flexed underneath his shirt.

Her glance wasn't lost on Nick and he tucked that look in her eye away in his memory banks for a later time, perhaps when any nasty doubt should surface. "Let's see what's on." One of the things that Nick liked about Luna Cable was the fact that they had a channel guide accessible from the remote, and he was glad that Sara had finally come around and sprung for digital cable during her leave of absence over the summer.

As they scrolled through the viewing options they simultaneously pointed at the TV.

"Oh, stop there."

"Yeah, I haven't seen that in a while."

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Nick was the first one to talk. "I never figured you for a 'Smokey and the Bandit' kind of girl."

Sara let out a soft chuckle and smiled at bit smugly. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me yet." She was definitely going to enjoy getting to know Nick better.

Nick grinned at her and then leaned over and kissed her chastely as he selected the movie. "Ok, 'Smoky and the Bandit' it is."

They settled back to watch the movie and somewhere along the line they began to toss out ideas of who they'd like to see recast in the movie if it was ever remade. The results of that line of conversation had them dissolving into fits of laughter which continued until the credits rolled up the screen.

And then after sharing a few more lingering kisses, Nick went home and Sara headed off to bed with a contented smile on her face. Yes, getting to know Nick Stokes on a romantic level was going to be interesting, and she couldn't wait until that second date.


	9. Chapter 9

Sara was still smiling when she woke up and she stretched out leisurely in her bed, glad that she had plenty of time to get some housework and a run in before work that night. She might have even rolled over and gone back to sleep if her cell phone hadn't rang just then. She furrowed her brow as she reached for it and checked the caller ID. "Sidle." Her voice was laced with sleep, but it was evident in her tone that she was smiling.

"Did I wake you up?" Nick's tone was flirtatious. He'd been up for several hours already and had waited as long as he could before calling her.

The eagerness in his voice wasn't lost on Sara. "No, I woke up a few minutes ago. You?" She fingered the edging on her comforter as she considered that this call from Nick was causing a fluttering sensation in her stomach.

"I've been up a while." He hoped he didn't sound too eager, but after the previous night, he really wanted to spend some more time with her before he had to be at work.

Sara smiled into the phone. "So what are you doing?"

"Uh, getting ready to take a run, was wondering if you might want to join me?" He really didn't need the workout, and he wasn't sure if after all the dancing they'd done last night if she would really be interested.

"Yeah. I was planning on going later, but I can go now." The thought of spending some time with him was very appealing and she sat up in bed wondering to herself if she should take a shower before working out so that she wouldn't look so rumpled.

"Should I pick you up?" Nick wasn't sure why he felt so nervous about asking her to go running. They'd run together numerous times, and after last night's date, he really shouldn't be nervous. Still, this _was_ Sara and he really like her and things between them weren't as defined as he would like, although from all that he could pick up, they were definitely heading in a direction that pleased him.

"Sure." Sara reasoned that it would take him at least ten minutes to get to her apartment and that would give her enough time to throw on her running clothes, run a comb through her hair and brush her teeth.

"Ok, then." Nick was definitely smiling and from the way his words sounded in his own ears, he was far too eager. But Sara really didn't sound like she minded and his smile spread into a grin. "I should be there in about ten or fifteen minutes?"

"Ok." No time for lounging in bed, Sara walked across her room and immediately opened up a drawer to pull out some running clothes. A pair of shorts and a tank top ought to do it, what with the temperatures already at least into the high seventies if not low eighties.

"See you soon." Nick felt like a complete dolt as he hung up the phone.

Sara couldn't help but smile at how eager he sounded to see her and she wondered how this thing between them would play out while they were at work. She furrowed her brow. That was one little complication she really hadn't thought about in any great detail, even when she'd been so fixed on Grissom. The dynamics of a workplace relationship were complicated at best. At least she and Nick were working different shifts, but still, there were those at the lab that frowned on romance at work; although, surprisingly, Ecklie didn't seem to be one of them. Two people from his own shift when he was the dayshift supervisor had dated a rather long time and had eventually gotten married and he had even allowed them to work cases together; it was Grissom that she wasn't sure about.

Sara had barely finished brushing her teeth when she heard a knock at her door. She glanced at the clock in her bathroom and smirked as she realized that Nick must have been walking out the door to his car when he called her, or he'd sped the entire way, and considering Nick it could have been either. She grabbed a ponytail holder on her way out of the bathroom and pulled her hair back as she walked to the front door.

Nick looked as nervous as a teenage boy on his first date as the door swung open. "Hey." He just stood there and smiled at Sara when in reality what he really wanted to do was take her into his arms and kiss her.

"Hey." Inwardly Sara laughed at the vast vocabulary they were generating. She felt a flip in her stomach as she glanced at his lips and wondered if it would be too forward to kiss him, even in light of last night. Of course then they'd had plenty of ambiance to lead into the kisses they'd shared _and_ they hadn't really established where this _thing_ was going other than on a second date.

Nick broke the somewhat awkward tension by gesturing towards his Denali. "How about a couple of miles and then a couple of lattes?" Maybe over coffee he could work up his courage to tell her that he was interested in a real relationship with her, not just a series of dates and see what she thought.

"Sounds good." Sara let out a slightly embarrassed chuckle as she realized she didn't yet have her shoes on. "Just give me a minute."

"Sure." Nick watched as she turned and disappeared into her bedroom, emerging a few moments later with her shoes and socks on and a fanny pack that he assumed held her wallet and keys.

About an hour later, the pair were seated at a table in a neighborhood Starbucks sipping iced lattes. It had been a tad warm out for an all out run and so after they'd gone a mile and a half, they'd called it quits and driven over to the coffee shop.

Nick studied Sara out of the corner of his eye as they sat next to each other at the small round table in the corner of Starbucks. "I really had fun last night."

"Me too." Sara couldn't help but smile. Not only had she found Nick to be an incredible romantic, she'd had fun trying to recast 'Smoky and the Bandit' with him.

A smile began to spread across Nick's face as he leaned forward in his chair and cradled the latte in his hands. "So I was thinking…" He let his words trail off as he watched her body language.

Sara arched her brows at him inquisitively as she fiddled with her straw a bit nervously. "And?" She could tell he had something specific on his mind.

Encouraged, Nick pressed on. "Well, I was thinking that I wanted to see more of you."

Sara tried to keep her smile restrained. "There is still that second date." Although in the back of her mind she wondered if this right now could qualify as that date.

"Well, that's true." He reached over and enveloped one of her hands with his, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand. "But I was thinking that I wanted to date you, not just take you on another date."

Sara just looked at him, her smile unabashedly spreading out across her face and exposing the gap between her two front teeth. _Date Nick Stokes._ She had certainly thought that what was happening might turn into that, but she hadn't really expected it quite this soon.

Her smile gave Nick courage to continue. "It's just that I know you, we'll we've known each other a while and I care about you. I don't really want to see anyone else. I want to see you." He gave her hand a squeeze and his eyes seemed to caress her face.

Sara let his words sink in for a minute. For some reason, even though she hadn't expected to hear him say something like that so soon, it wasn't unwelcome; it just felt right. Maybe it was because she'd known him for years, and maybe it was because that book she'd read had given her a measure of clarity that she hadn't had before, but whatever it was, she found that she wanted to give whatever this was between them a chance.

"Am I overstepping my bounds here?" Nick's brow was furrowed now as he studied her, a bit of worry creeping into the back of his mind that he was blowing it by being so forward.

Sara smiled and squeezed his hand in return, shaking her head. "No, you're not. I think I'd really like that." She watched as a grin spread across his face and then her eyes fluttered shut as he leaned in and softly kissed her, his lips tasting faintly of coffee.


	10. Chapter 10

Warrick Brown stood in front of his locker changing out of the shirt and tie he'd worn for a court appearance earlier that day and into one more appropriate for working crime scenes, when Nick sauntered in just before shift with a rather large grin on his face. Warrick quirked an eyebrow at him a bit suspiciously. "You look a little too happy." It was one thing for Nick to take Sara on a date, it was quite another if he thought he could treat her like any other woman he'd gone out with and Warrick wanted to make that quite clear that if he hurt her that he'd be a dead man.

Nick let out a knowing chuckle. "Relax, Rick." He wasn't going to let anything spoil his good mood, not after Sara Sidle had agreed to date him. They'd finished up their coffees and headed back to her apartment, shared a few kisses and then he'd hightailed it home to grab a shower and had just made it to work with a few minutes to spare, thanks to some long yellow lights.

Warrick finished buttoning up his shirt and closed his locker, leaning a shoulder against it as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave Nick a look. "How did the date go?" It wasn't that he didn't want things to work out between Nick and Sara; it was just that he was friends with both of them and didn't want to be put in the middle if something went wrong.

Nick couldn't keep the grin off of his face. "Very well." His mind was clearly on 'Planet Sara' and he was going to have to work at focusing tonight if he was going to be much use at any crime scene they were called out to.

Warrick's eyebrow went up again in big brother fashion. "How well?" His tone indicated that Nick had better tread very carefully.

Nick chuckled again and shook his head. "You should know Sara better than that."

"It's not her I'm worried about." Warrick quipped.

"And you should know me better than that too." Nick answered in all seriousness. "I'm not about to do something stupid and blow it with her." The truth was that Nick hadn't really dated much lately at all, and ever since Kristy Hopkins had been murdered, he'd approached the dating scene a little differently than his overblown reputation would indicate. That experience had matured him in a way that had him much more serious about work and more serious about the women he was interested in.

Warrick's interest was piqued. "So she wants to go out with you again?" There was a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, she wants to go out with me again." Nick had a smug expression on his face.

"Who wants to go out with you again?" Catherine had chosen that moment to walk into the locker room in search of her shift so that she could hand out assignments. Since she'd become supervisor it seemed that she wasn't as privy to what was going on in the lives of her coworkers since she felt like she was always buried in paperwork.

Warrick glanced over at Nick to see if he would answer the question, or if he would be purposefully evasive.

Nick had no such hesitation. "Sara." He shut his locker door and faced Catherine with a smile.

Catherine looked a little surprised. "Sara." Her tone was a bit skeptical as if Nick had just suggested they all skip work and go to religious revival meeting for the evening. The last she'd known, she thought Sara was still hung up on Gil Grissom.

Nick chuckled softly. "Yes, Sara." He puffed his chest out slightly and continued. "In fact we've decided to start seeing each other."

"After _one_ date?" Warrick wasn't sure he was hearing him correctly; he knew Nick had it bad for Sara, but he didn't realize that Sara was _that_ interested in him.

"Two dates." Nick smiled satisfied. "We went running and had coffee this afternoon."

Catherine stood there with an incredulous look on her face. "You're dating." This was definitely a newsflash and one she wasn't sure was going to go over very well with a few people around the lab, the first being Grissom. Not only did the man not get out much, he was relationally clueless; she'd thought he was interested in Sara, but apparently his chronic inaction had made him a little late.

Nick smirked at Catherine, resting his hands on his hips. "Why is it so hard to believe that Sara Sidle just might want to date me?" He was more amused than annoyed at Catherine's reaction.

A smile stole over Catherine's face as she gave Nick an appreciative glance and let out a throaty laugh. "It's not hard to believe that any woman would want to date you, Nick, but this is Sara." She smiled softly at Nick leaving unspoken the fact that Sara had been so focused on Grissom for so long that some of them thought she'd never move on.

"Well if you have any doubts, you can ask Sara." Nick hoped that this mini-interrogation was almost over. He'd prepared himself for the third degree, but he didn't want to spend the entire shift in the locker room.

"I didn't say I doubted you." Catherine remarked to Nick and then shot Warrick a glance as she noticed he was just standing there taking it all in with amusement on his face.

"Actually, Cath..." Warrick began to refute her statement.

She cut him off with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "We have shift, gentlemen." She turned and walked out of the locker room towards her office where she expected Nick and Warrick to follow for the briefing.

Nick glanced over at Warrick and let out a chortle. "She shot you down, man." He had picked up on a vibe between the pair that there just might be a little bit more brewing underneath the surface, but neither one of them was about to admit it. Still, Nick enjoyed getting in the occasional barb towards Warrick.

Warrick just shook his head and laughed good-naturedly as they strolled down the hallway, glancing over at Nick. "You just be careful with Sara." There was no way he was going to take the bait that Nick was trying to throw out about Catherine. There was far too much at stake if he ever went down that path, and he wasn't sure if it was a good move for either of them, especially since she was his supervisor now.

"I will be." Nick replied sincerely. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this way about someone. He was definitely into her and he sure as hell hoped this shift went by quickly or that he ran into her when she showed up for her own shift because he couldn't wait to see her again. Sara Sidle had agreed to date him and no one was going to wipe the smile off of his face today.


	11. Chapter 11

There was an element of dread that entered Sara just before she walked through the doors of the lab that night. She reasoned that Nick had probably talked to Warrick about their date since he'd known about it beforehand and she knew that Greg would probably try and grill her for more details, but she had no idea if anyone else knew, or how much Nick would have shared with Warrick. A flurry of butterflies churned in her stomach as she made her way to the locker room to stow her purse and get her gear for the evening's shift. Thankfully the room was empty and she let out a sigh of relief as she opened her locker. She could hear the sound of voices approaching and she glanced up as she recognized one of them as Nick's, and a smile flitted unbidden across her face as she noticed him look through the doorway and grin, slowing his pace.

"Rick, I need to grab something real quick, I'll meet you in the layout room." Nick called out as he made a quick detour into the locker room and walked over to where Sara stood.

She smirked. "By something, did you mean me?" She attached her ID badge onto her lapel and tilted her head slightly as he approached.

Nick chuckled. "I wasn't exactly thinking of grabbing you. Some people might get the wrong idea." He stepped closer to her and couldn't resist reaching out and trailing his fingers along her arm until his hand caught hers and gave it a quick squeeze. "I just wanted to say 'hi'."

Sara was smiling rather widely. "Hi." She was tempted to kiss him, but thought better of it as she heard more voices in the hallway.

A sheepish expression crossed Nick's face. "Uh, I sort of told Warrick and Catherine about us." He reasoned that it was best not to keep a secret about something like that, and besides, he didn't care if the whole world knew that he was dating Sara Sidle.

Sara looked a little relieved that she knew who knew. "Uh, that's good." She smiled a bit nervously.

Nick looked a little worried. "Is that ok?" He hadn't really considered that she might not want him shouting it from the rooftops.

She let out a soft laugh and nodded. "Yeah, it's ok. I guess it's better to tell them than to let the rumor mill get started." She looked into Nick's eyes and felt her heart flip. Why he seemed to be so interested in her was beyond her. She smiled at him. "You better not keep Warrick waiting."

"You want to try and catch breakfast after your shift?" Nick was suddenly finding the split up of their team rather annoying and inconvenient.

Sara smirked at him. "When do you plan on sleeping, Nick?" As much as she liked the idea of spending some more time with him, she also knew how taxing this job could be and sleep was a desperately needed commodity at times.

"I'll take a power nap and call you." He winked at her as a grin spread across his face.

"Ok." She grinned back at him. "Breakfast." She wanted to kiss him in the worst way at that moment and it seemed he had the same idea because he quickly ducked his head and softly pressed his lips against hers before sauntering out of the locker room with a grin on his face.

Sara just stood there watching him go wondering how so much had changed in the span of a few days. She had to admit that these new feelings that were unfolding for Nick were scary and exciting all at the same time, and that while it certainly would be easier to just sit back and never take a relational risk, she would far rather see where the ride took them than to worry about the ultimate destination.

By the time she settled herself at the conference room table for the briefing before shift sipping a cup of coffee, she was still smiling.

Greg quirked an eyebrow at her from across the table. "So I take it the rest of the date went well."

She smirked at him, conscious of the fact that Sophia was sitting right next to her and that Grissom was expected at any minute. "Yes."

The blond CSI glanced over at Sara with a smile. Apparently when she'd mentioned that Gil Grissom's loss would be someone else's gain, she'd had someone specific in mind. Sophia's curiosity was piqued.

Greg leaned back in his chair with a cheesy grin and looked at her expectantly. "And?" His tone clearly implied she'd better start sharing some details. He could only imagine that if she was smiling like that, that Nick was probably feeling pretty good.

Sophia had difficulty suppressing a laugh at Greg.

"We had a very good time." Sara was decidedly evasive; she reasoned that she could tell him just enough later to satisfy his curiosity without going into too much detail. The last thing she wanted was for Grissom to walk in while she was dishing out details of her date with Nick. It wasn't that she didn't want Grissom to know, as her supervisor he probably should know especially since Nick was a coworker; she just wanted to have a little bit more control over the circumstances when he got the information.

Greg wasn't easily discouraged. "So, does that mean he's getting a second date?" From the way Nick and Sara had been acting towards each other at the club, he reasoned that there was no way Nick wasn't getting a second date unless he'd done something after he and Tiffany had left to really blow it.

Sara's smile was smug and she couldn't resist tossing out a little tidbit of information just to see Greg's reaction. "We've actually already had the second date." She hid her smirk behind a cup of coffee that she brought up to her lips as she watched Greg's eyes widen. From the corner of her eye she could see Sophia regarding her curiously as to who this mystery man was, especially given their conversation several days prior.

You could almost see the gears turning in Greg's mind, wondering just how much of a time lag there had been between the first date and the second. It seemed he wanted to press her for more specifics, but realized that he really couldn't ask her about it the same way he would one of the guys.

The thought occurred to Sara that Greg was probably jumping to conclusions about whether or not she and Nick had spent the night together and she decided to squash that idea before it had a chance to even become a rumor. "He called me this afternoon and we went for a run and coffee." A smile spread over her face as she sipped her coffee.

"Ah." Greg wasn't sure why he felt relieved, but he had suddenly felt protective of Sara. "Running, huh?" It had been a rather warm day and in the back of his mind he was thinking that Nick must have really wanted to spend some time with Sara if he'd gone running when it was over 80 degrees outside.

"Yes, running." Sara chuckled in protest.

Greg smirked and then whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "So is he getting a third date?"

Sara felt a faint blush creep up her cheeks and she couldn't hide it behind her cup of coffee. "Yes, he's getting a third date." She took a sip and then set the cup down as a smile spread across her face. "In fact we've decided to see each other."

Sophia finally interjected a question as Greg seemed to be rendered temporarily speechless. "So who's the lucky guy, Sara?" She was genuinely happy that her coworker seemed excited about this mystery man.

Sara's smile widened as she faced Sophia. "Nick Stokes." The words were out of her mouth before any of them noticed that Grissom was standing in the doorway peering over the rim of his glasses with a surprised expression on his face.


	12. Chapter 12

"Lividity was fixed." Grissom's brow was furrowed as considered the position the body had been in at the crime scene. David the assistant coroner had just removed the body and there didn't seem to be much evidence near where the man was found to determine exactly what had happened to him. Hopefully the autopsy would give them more information.

"So then he was killed here." Sara added as she tried to keep her mind on the crime scene they were investigating rather than on the fact that Grissom hadn't said a word about the fact that she was dating Nick. After he'd walked in at the most inopportune time before the briefing, his face had registered momentary surprise and then he'd put on his most professional face and had handed out assignments without so much as acknowledging the information.

Sara wasn't sure what was more irritating; the fact that Grissom knew she and Nick were dating and didn't say anything, or the fact that he'd paired her with himself to investigate a crime scene. Not that the crime itself wasn't interesting or that she didn't like working with Grissom. The man was a brilliant criminalist and she had learned a great deal from working with him; she just wanted him to acknowledge her relationship with Nick. _Relationship._ At the thought of that word, a smile stole across Sara's face. The fact that she was looking for traces of blood or anything else that might indicate the manner of death that the victim had suffered aside; she was looking forward to having breakfast with Nick after shift ended.

"Did you find something?" Grissom looked at her curiously from over the rim of his glasses as he noticed the smile on her face. He really didn't want to think that her smile might have come from what he'd heard in the briefing room.

Sara looked up at him a bit startled. "What? Uh, no...I was just thinking about...something else." She focused her attention back to the edge of an end table near where the victim lay as she considered whether the contusion on the dead man's head might have been caused by hitting it on the edge or corner in some sort of fall. She pulled out a swab and then tested it for traces of blood with a little phenylthaeline. She furrowed her brow in frustration as the swab failed to turn pink.

Grissom just stood there with his lips pursed with a look on his face that usually came over him when he was on the verge of having some sort of crime scene epiphany.

Sara chuckled softly as she regarded him. "Let me guess, you've discovered that he killed himself by accidentally hitting himself over the head with a block of ice or something?" All of the other CSIs were always a bit mesmerized with how Grissom could figure out the most bizarre scenarios with the scantest evidence.

Grissom's eyes widened and then he looked at Sara as if she'd solved the case and then he abruptly left the room to follow through on whatever thought had been going through his head.

Sara just shook her head and continued to process the scene. Grissom was definitely a paradox. As she noticing something odd on a dark lampshade she sprayed it with luminal and her eyes widened at the spray of blood which had appeared to have been wiped off. She was about to go find Grissom when he reappeared toting a bag of golf clubs.

"Would you prefer a wood or a putter?" Grissom had a sort of half smirk on his face.

"That is some heavy artillery." Sara commented as she considered that a golf club could be a formidable weapon.

Grissom gingerly pulled a driver out and quirked an eyebrow. "I found blood here, but not here." He pointed at different sides of the club. He had obviously sprayed them to test for blood.

"And?" Sara had never really played golf and she wasn't really picking up what he was implying.

"If you were addressing the ball you would use this side of the club where it's flat; the blood is on the other side, suggesting that he was struck mid-swing." Grissom concluded. "I think we need to talk to his roommate again."

"So it may very well have been accidental." Sara considered as she noted golf paraphernalia dotting the décor in the living room where the body had been.

In the end Grissom had been correct, the roommate confessed that he had been practicing his golf swing inside the apartment and the victim had been dancing around with headphones on, completely oblivious until he'd been struck on the head, never regaining consciousness.

Sara couldn't help but snicker at the ridiculous nature of the whole thing as Grissom drove them back to the lab.

Grissom quirked an eyebrow at her. "What?" He knew that he was going to have to say something to her eventually about the fact that she was dating Nick; he just wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't exceptionally pleased about it, he didn't think romantic relationships within the lab were conducive to a productive work environment, but given that Ecklie had already established a precedent that allowed it, he couldn't exactly reprimand her. His own conviction that coworkers shouldn't see each other had been one of the primary reasons that he hadn't pursued her himself, despite the fact that she had made it clear that she'd been interested in him.

Sara cast him a glance from the passenger seat. "Just that you never know how long your life is going to be. But what a way to go, with someone else's bad golf swing."

"An exceptionally bad golf swing at that." Grissom's lips twitched into a half smile and then he let out a bit of a sigh as he realized that he needed to say something to her about Nick. "Sara, Nicky's a good man." There it was out; he hadn't needed to touch on the fact that he thought she was making a mistake on a professional level, and he certainly didn't have to acknowledge any of his own feelings for her.

Sara looked at Grissom fully as she considered that his statement was probably about as much as he was ever going to volunteer. She simply smiled. "I know he is; that's one of the reasons I'm dating him." She wanted her status to be as clear as possible so that Grissom couldn't say he'd never been informed.

Grissom wasn't sure what to say. When she'd seen Hank, she'd never actually admitted that she was dating him, even on the witness stand in court. Grissom had always gotten the impression that Hank was just a substitute for him; that she'd drop him in a heartbeat should he ever decide he wanted to pursue her. For some reason, he wasn't getting the same impression about Nick from her tone of voice.

Sara continued. "I know that we're coworkers, but we work different shifts and we're both professionals." She wasn't sure why she felt compelled to continue; maybe it was because through her DUI and the confession to him about how her mother had murdered her father it had put him in the position of being a confidant, and since she knew he'd never pursue her, it felt safe. "We're not going to let our love life interfere with work."

Grissom didn't really hear much else, just a word here and there that stood out; love, date, relationship, and a tone from Sara that bordered on giddy. He felt a sinking feeling that he'd definitely waited too long and he suddenly felt regret. Regardless of whether he would have ever found the courage to risk his career for her as his subordinate, he was obviously too late.


	13. Chapter 13

"Technically my shift doesn't end for five more minutes." Sara couldn't help but smirk into the phone as she stood at a layout table pouring over evidence from her second case that night as she talked to Nick on her cell phone. She let out a soft laugh as she listened to him talking and when she responded her voice was decidedly lower and a bit conspiratorial. "So, you're making it yourself from scratch?" There was a hint of doubt in her voice. She giggled. "Oh, I believe you, I'm just wondering when you took that power nap you were talking about." She pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. "Nick..." She let out a sigh as she listened to him talk and smiled. "Ok, I'll be out of here in a few minutes." She ended the call and set her cell phone on the table unable to keep the smile off of her face.

Grissom had paused outside of the layout room as he heard her talking. He had wanted to discuss something about the case, but as he realized she was talking to Nick he'd stopped, feeling a little awkward. He cleared his throat as he stood in the doorway.

Sara glanced up. "Oh, hey, Gris. I'm almost done here. I haven't been able to get anything off of these so I'm going to call it a day and see if I can find anything tonight with fresh eyes." She gestured towards what had been the contents of the trash bag in their victim's car.

Grissom pursed his lips and looked at her over the rim of his glasses; it wasn't like Sara to go home at the end of her shift. "You're sure you didn't find anything." He wanted to make sure that in her apparent haste to get out of the lab to see Nick that she wasn't overlooking anything.

"Yes." She was surprised and there was something in her tone as she looked at his face that suddenly bordered on irritation.

Never known for his great people skills, Grissom spoke before he thought about how what he said must have sounded to Sara. "I just don't want your eagerness to spend time with Nick to interfere with your..."

He never got an opportunity to finish his sentence as fire blazed in Sara's eyes and she narrowed her gaze at him. "I cannot believe that you would even insinuate that I would let any romantic relationship cloud my professionalism. You should know me a hell of a lot better than that." Her tone was cool and controlled, but there was no mistaking the anger underlying it.

"Sara, I..." Grissom fumbled with his words, not sure he should apologize since he had not intended to offend her in the first place. He was simply looking out for the case and the evidence and she seemed a little less focused tonight, at least that's how he'd interpreted her mood; she was happier than he'd seen her in a long time.

"Save it, Grissom. I have a date, and I'm not going to keep Nick waiting. As soon as I check this back into the evidence locker, I'm out of here." She was inwardly fuming as she carefully put the evidence back in its box and then picked it up and brushed past Grissom who just stood there with his mouth slightly agape.

She was still fuming when she walked into the locker room to collect her things, nearly colliding with Greg who was also on his way out.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Greg teased.

She mumbled an apology. "Sorry."

Greg looked immediately concerned. "You ok?" She had that 'Grissom pissed me off' look on her face that he'd become accustomed to and it made him sad.

Sara forced a smile. "I will be when I get out of here." She let out a sigh and then looked Greg in the eye. "Have you ever known me to compromise a case because of something in my personal life?"

Greg chuckled softly. "You haven't exactly had a personal life until recently, but no, I've never known you to be anything but professional." He studied her for a moment as she turned to open her locker. "Did someone say something?"

She rolled her eyes. "Grissom. He insinuated that in my rush to meet Nick that I didn't look at the evidence as carefully as I should have."

"Did you?" There was a tone to Greg's voice that was non-accusatory.

Sara glanced up a bit surprised and then shook her head. "No, I spent three hours going over that stuff, if I missed something it's because my eyes won't focus anymore."

Greg smiled at her in a genuine gesture of friendship. "Well, then I think it's Grissom that has the problem."

Sara relaxed a smile flitted across her face. "Thanks." She had needed some reassurance and she knew that Greg wouldn't lie to her.

Greg quirked an eyebrow at her. "So, you're meeting Nick, huh?"

She smirked at him. "Yes, he's making me breakfast."

"Well have a good time." Greg arched his brows suggestively.

"I intend to." Sara pulled her jacket on and grabbed her purse before shutting the locker door.

"And don't do anything I wouldn't do." Greg smirked with a wink.

Sara smirked back. "Well, that leaves the door wide open then, now doesn't it?" She appreciated Greg's friendly banter. She didn't want to show up at Nick's with a gloomy cloud over her head because of something that Grissom had said. Greg was right, she had done her job professionally, and Grissom was the one who had the problem. Perhaps if the man went out at all he might understand that it was possible to have both a personal and a professional life. His inability to do just that was one of the biggest reasons she'd finally been able to get over him.

Greg just laughed at her comment. "You never struck me as a liquid latex kind of gal." He waggled his eyebrows at her as he watch the color creep up her cheeks.

"Greg." Sara's mouth hung open slightly and then she let out a laugh as she realized he was teasing her. "I've got to go."

"See you later, Sara." Greg grinned at her as she headed out of the locker room.

Sara couldn't help but smile as she made her way to her car. Life was good. In spite of Grissom's lack of social skills, he was a good mentor. She had a job that she loved and was passionate about, she had coworkers that she liked, and she had a new relationship with a man she genuinely cared about. She wasn't sure exactly where things would go with Nick in the long term, but suddenly she couldn't wait to see him.


	14. Chapter 14

Sara noticed the grin on Nick's face before she noticed the dish towel draped over the left shoulder of his gray LVPD T-shirt. He seemed just as glad to see her as she was to see him and she giggled a little as he pulled her into the house by way of pulling her into his arms.

"Did you get _any_ sleep at all?" She knew that it was doubtful given the wonderful aroma wafting from his kitchen. He worked just as many hours as she did and it was more likely he'd gone by the grocery store on the way home than he'd gotten any sleep.

Nick nuzzled her ear. "A little." It was true. He'd gotten about forty-five minutes of sleep and then he'd headed out to pick up a few things to make them a breakfast that his mother would be proud of, even if it was vegetarian friendly.

"Something smells good." Sara pushed out of Nick's embrace, her hands splaying out against his chest as he rested his hands on her hips.

Nick had a mischievous smirk on his face. "I'm glad you like my aftershave."

Sara smirked back as she shook her head and laughed. "I was talking about the food, but you're aftershave's not bad either."

Nick arched his brows at her as he eyed her lips. "Oh, really?"

"Uh huh." Sara slid her hands up his chest to his shoulders as Nick ducked his head and softly kissed her.

He was grinning at her as he pulled away. "I hope you're hungry." It was no secret that Sara could put away about as much food as the guys did, so Nick had no qualms about whipping up a few of his mom's favorite breakfast foods.

"I could eat." She grinned back at him.

"Good." Nick leaned in and gave her another kiss before releasing her from his embrace. "I need to check on the food."

Sara followed him into the kitchen, thoroughly appreciating the view the back of his faded jeans afforded her as she glanced at his butt. She was definitely looking forward to spending some time with him, and as Nick paused in front of his stove to stir something Sara couldn't quite identify, she couldn't resist resting her hands on his hips and peering over his shoulder as she rested her chin on it. "What are you making?"

Nick was pleased by this unexpected display of affection from Sara and he turned his head a little as he answered her with a smile. "It's blueberry sauce for the waffles. My mom sent it to me from back home."

Sara had an image of a homespun childhood for Nick. "Your mother sounds very domestic." For some reason it wouldn't surprise her if Nick's mom had grown the berries herself.

Nick chuckled as if he could tell where her mind was going. "Only when she had to be; she worked a lot."

"What does she do?" Sara queried him.

Nick turned the burner off, satisfied that the blueberry sauce was done. "She used to work as a public defender, she's retired now that Dad's on the state Supreme Court."

"And _exactly_ how many siblings do you have?" Sara sounded incredulous that a woman with a large family would have time to do such a demanding job.

Nick chuckled softly. "One brother and five sisters."

"She is my new hero." Sara quipped.

Nick laughed. "She's a pretty incredible woman. Sort of reminds me of you."

The words were out before Sara even thought of the implication. "There is no way in hell I'd be willing to have seven kids."

Nick just laughed and turned around to face her. "And I don't think I could see you ever having seven kids."

Suddenly Sara was embarrassed that she'd said anything and she felt the need to change the subject. "You said something about waffles?" She forced a smile even though she felt nerves churning in her stomach.

"Yes, homemade waffles." Nick grinned at her and then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I was just waiting for you to get here before I put the batter in the waffle maker."

"Ok, then." Sara felt her nerves begin to subside and her smile began to feel a bit more relaxed.

Nick went about making the waffles, aware of the fact that Sara was watching him and he tried to keep from smiling too big. He was excited that he was getting to make her breakfast and a thought flitted through his mind that he'd like to have her for breakfast instead of what he was fixing, but he quickly put it aside, not wanting to push the issue with her until she was ready.

Sara watched Nick, studying his physique with interest, memorizing the features of his face and his masculine hands. She'd known him for a while, but she realized that there was a lot to him that she didn't know; that she wanted to know. Her thoughts drifted into more dangerous territory as she took the time he was pouring more batter into the waffle maker to study his butt. His jeans hugged them just right and she wondered to herself just what he'd look like out of those jeans.

Nick glanced up just then and he chuckled softly as he noticed where her eyes had been focused. "Ready to eat?" He wasn't going to comment on her staring at his ass, at least not yet.

"Yeah." Sara knew she'd been caught, but she really didn't care. As much as she didn't want to rush into sleeping with him, there was a part of her that kept trying to rationalize that she already knew him. She wasn't sure which little voice in her head was going to win.

Nick opted to seat them on his couch rather than his dining room table, if for no other reason than so he could sit as close to her as possible while they ate. He grinned as he watched Sara take a bite of her waffles. The sound she made bordered on obscene. "I take it you like the waffles."

Sara looked at him wide-eyed and nodded. "What is in this recipe? I've never had waffles this good." Maybe it was true and maybe it wasn't, but the fact that she was sitting next to a man she cared about and who at that moment looked incredibly sexy certainly didn't hurt.

Nick just laughed. "They are pretty good, aren't they?" He found himself scooting just a little bit closer to her and wondering if she might be open to staying around for a little while and maybe watching a movie, or anything else that might allow him some quality time kissing her.


	15. Chapter 15

Nick was thoroughly amused at how much Sara was enjoying breakfast and how much she ate. When he told her that there was more food after the waffles she smirked. After a helping of a hash brown casserole that had eggs, cheese, peppers, onions, and a few other things Nick wouldn't mention they settled themselves in front of the TV to watch 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'; a cult classic they'd both seen when they were in college.

Neither one of them was paying particular attention to the movie, Nick had his arm around Sara and she was leaning into his side with her head resting against his chest and an arm around his waist.

"This is nice." It was evident that Sara was smiling by the tone in her voice. It was nice to come and spend some time with someone who was emotionally available; someone who was excited to see her. For some reason she was still thinking about Grissom's comment and his implication that she'd not paid close enough attention to the evidence in her haste to come see Nick. And as she thought about that, something occurred to her. She hadn't ever really been so excited to see someone before that anyone could have ever accused her of such a thing and she giggled.

Nick glanced down at her with a curious expression on her face because he was sure that the commercial dealing with smoking cessation wasn't the source of her amusement. "What's so funny?"

She looked up at him with a smile. "I'm really glad I came over." She leaned up and softly kissed him, not particularly interested in the movie anymore.

Nick used the arm around her shoulder to pull her closer, enjoying the sensation of her lips against his and he found himself threading his fingers into her hair as he realized that this was no simple kiss. He could feel a hunger in Sara's kiss that he'd felt in his own the night they had their first date and he wondered exactly where things were leading, especially after she'd put the brakes on and said things were moving a little too fast.

Sara found herself deepening the kiss, wanting to just loose herself in it for a while and see where things went. The feel of Nick's arm around her and the strength in his gentle touch caused a flurry of butterflies to churn in her stomach as they continued to kiss, their tongues sliding past each other in an intimate dance.

The more they kissed, the closer they got until Nick began gradually leaning back on the couch until he was lying down and Sara was pretty much on top of him. Neither one of them was particularly cognizant of how much time had gone by; they had filtered out the sound of the TV in the background, the sound of each other breathing was really all they were hearing.

Sara wasn't sure that she wanted to stop where all of this was heading, but she wasn't sure she was ready to go there either, but she also knew that she wanted him and so she began to tug at the hem of Nick's shirt.

Nick's mind was in a lusty fog as he slipped his hand up the back of Sara's shirt, fumbling with the clasp of her bra as he felt her hands sliding up his chest underneath his t-shirt. Whatever had changed her mind about things moving too fast he wasn't going to argue, he wanted her, he'd wanted her for a long time and she was giving every indication that she wanted him too.

Perhaps it was Nick's hand up her shirt, or her bra clasp being undone, or maybe even his other hand on her ass, but whatever it was, Sara broke the kiss panting heavily. "Wait."

What registered in Nick's mind took a few seconds longer to reach his hands which finally stopped moving. He was breathing heavily himself and he was trying to process that Sara had just said 'wait' but she was making no move to get off of him. He looked into her eyes and smiled as he noticed how flushed her face was and how full her lips were from the kisses that they'd been sharing.

Sara smiled back at him. "I'm sorry." She looked a little sheepish. "I don't mean to stop when I'm the one that started this...I mean I do mean to stop...I mean..."

"Sara, it's ok." Nick wasn't really sure he was following her, but he didn't want her to feel like she had to have sex with him simply because she'd been the one to initiate their make out session, no matter how much he wanted her.

Sara put a finger to Nick's lips and smiled; her eyes looking into his. "It's just that it's a pretty big step..."

"Sara..." Nick began again softly until Sara shook her head and pressed her finger back to his lips.

"I wasn't done yet." She smirked at him.

Nick let out a nervous chuckle and smiled back at her. "Sorry."

"It's ok." Her smirked pulled into a smile as she looked at him for a long moment. "I just wanted to tell you that I couldn't wait to see you when I got off work."

"I couldn't wait to see you either." Nick's voice was husky. He was very aware of the fact that neither one of them had made a move to untangle themselves from each other; his hand was still up the back of her shirt.

"I can't remember the last time I was that excited about anything but work." Sara wanted him to know that she really cared about him. She didn't want him to have any doubts about whether she still had any feelings for Grissom floating around in the back of her mind, and she wanted him to know that she wanted to be with him.

The smile on Nick's face widened noticeably and he unconsciously moved his thumb across her back in a caress. Sara was a notorious workaholic and for her to tell him that she was as excited about seeing him as she was about work was tantamount to telling him that she was falling in love with him.

"But I'm not sure I'm ready for that step." Sara nervously nibbled at her lower lip. As much as she felt empowered after reading that book, putting up firm boundaries about what she would and wouldn't do was still a bit scary because she didn't want Nick to reject her.

Nick looked at her reassuringly. "Hey, I don't want you to feel like you have to be. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't want to make love to you, Sara, because I do, I really do." The weight of her body on top of his was just heightening that desire in him. "I care about you though and I don't want to take that step until we're both ready."

"So you're ok with me getting us both all hot and bothered and then putting on the brakes?" There was a hint of a smirk in her expression as she used a playful tone to deflect the anxiety she was feeling over wanting to just throw all caution to the wind, but not feeling like they were really far enough along in their relationship to cross that line.

Nick let out a hearty laugh. "I think I'll manage…as long as you don't plan on laying on top of me for the rest of the day." He winked at her from his vantage point underneath her and finally pulled his hand out from the back of her shirt.

Sara smoothed down the edges of Nick's t-shirt and shifted her weight so that she was wedged between him and the couch. "Do you want me to go?" She furrowed her brow as she considered that if they picked up where they'd just left off they might end up crossing that line in spite of themselves.

"Not really." Nick smiled, his hand resting on her hip. "But I know we both have to work our next shifts and sleep might be a good idea." He wished that she would stay, but he was sure if she did, they wouldn't be sleeping and she'd have regrets later.

Sara looked into his eyes, fingering the edge of his shirt. "As soon as I'm ready, you'll be the first to know."


	16. Chapter 16

Sara was doing her best to keep from smiling widely as she whispered into the phone. "Nick, I can't talk right now, ok? I'll call you back." She glanced at Greg out of the corner of her eye and noticed that he had a smirk on his face. "I'm not sure how long I'm going to be." She felt a surge of panic as she noticed that Grissom was headed their direction to see if she and Greg had found anything at the crime scene they were all investigating. "Look, I have to go; Grissom's going to have my ass." She snorted out a laugh and then tried to swallow it. "Of course not literally, you'll still be the first to know." She pursed her lips together and then cleared her throat. "I'll call you back."

Before Nick could say anything else, Sara had ended the call and replaced the phone on her belt, hoping that Grissom had no idea who she was talking to. If he found out that she was taking a personal call from Nick when she was supposed to be working a crime scene, she would get chewed out. In fact, _she_ had half a mind to chew _Nick_ out; he knew how she was at crime scenes and she didn't want to set a precedent this early in their relationship. It might have been ok for him to call his other girlfriends when they were at work, but she wasn't the average girlfriend, and she didn't have the average job. She wasn't sure she was looking forward to having yet another boundary setting conversation with Nick.

"I'm going back to the morgue with the body." Grissom began, not picking up on the glances between Greg and Sara. "The larvae are in an advanced stage and time is of the essence."

"Sure." Sara tried to appear as professional as possible as she kept shooting Greg something akin to a death glare because of the facial expressions he was making as a commentary on her phone call with Nick.

"You know, I hear that _Nick_ has been reading up on forensic entomology..." Greg arched his brows at Sara as he spoke.

Sara's eyes widened and then she narrowed her gaze at Greg again. It was true that Nick had been reading an entomology textbook that she'd lent him; the very same one that Grissom had given to her for Christmas one year.

"Really?" Grissom sounded a bit excited at the idea that one of the other CSIs had taken an interest in his passion.

"At least that's what _Sara_ says..." Greg just grinned, knowing full well that he was digging himself a hole; but sure that if he got Sara worked up enough, she just might spill some details to him about how things were _really_ going with Nick. Both of them had been rather tight lipped since their double date several weeks before.

Grissom quirked a curious eyebrow at her.

"Uh, we've been discussing the environmental factors that influence the entomological timeline." Sara replied quickly.

"Hmm." Grissom seemed interested and made a mental note to ask Nick about it later, perhaps he'd even want to come in and see the post on the body, especially since the body had been in a greenhouse and didn't appear to follow the typical decay pattern found in desert climates. He had already found some insects on the body that he hadn't expected, present perhaps because of the greenhouse.

"I had mentioned to him a field trip I'd taken to the body farm in Tennessee when I was at Harvard." Sara explained hoping that Grissom would just leave with the body and she could give Greg a piece of her mind.

"Ah." Grissom didn't say another word; he just turned and followed the coroner who was wheeling the body out of the greenhouse.

As soon as Grissom was out of earshot, Sara narrowed her gaze at Greg. "Do you _want _to be a dead man?"

"The man loves bugs, Sara. I just simply mentioned something that I thought he'd be interested to know." Greg tried to keep his tone innocent, but it wasn't working very well.

Sara just glared at him.

"Besides, would you rather that I tell him that you and Snooky Pie are trading sweet nothings at the crime scene?" Greg knew that he was pushing the envelope.

Sara's left eyebrow curved upwards as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We were not trading sweet nothings, not that it's any of your business." Her tone was decidedly irritated.

Greg chuckled. "Sounds like someone didn't get quite enough nookie..."

Sara literally growled at Greg. "Get back to processing the damn crime scene and get your nose out of my sex life or you will _never_ be able to make Tiffany a happy woman again." Her meaning was quite clear as she stomped off muttering under her breath out of earshot of Greg. "As if I even _have_ a sex life…"

Greg didn't say another word to Sara for the entire rest of the shift; he wisely kept his distance as she seemed to continue to fume.

By the time shift was wrapping up, Sara was headed to the locker room with half a mind to drive over to Nick's and give him a piece of her mind for calling her at a crime scene and giving Greg material to give her a hard time over. She had even begun to rehearse a speech in her mind until she opened her locker and what she found left her a little speechless.

Nick had somehow managed to get a single yellow rose into her locker along with a note. Sara sat down on the bench in between the bay of lockers and read it.

_Sara,_

_I'm sorry if I seem over eager to spend time with you; I'm just so excited about being with you that I can't seem to help myself, but I realized after we got off the phone earlier that maybe I might have crossed a line, because I know how much value you place on your ability to be professional and focused at work. I just wanted to let you know that before we're anything else, we're friends and I need to give you the same respect at work that I gave you before we decided to date each other, although, it isn't going to make me want to spend any less time with you. Call me when you get off, or call me when you get up if your shift goes too long, I just want to hear your voice._

_Nick_

The speech Sara had prepared in her mind seemed completely unnecessary now. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Nick's number, smiling as he answered it in a sleepy voice. "Hey." Her smile widened as she listened to him talk. "Yeah, I found it. Thanks, I think you saved Greg's life." She let out a giggle as she listed to Nick's take on what Greg must have done or said. "Close enough." She listened to Nick for a few more seconds before she interjected. "I already told him if he didn't lay off I'd hurt his manly parts, but I don't really want to talk about him." Sara's smile softened as she heard the tone in Nick's voice become inquisitive and she resumed talking. "Well I have tonight off and I thought maybe we could get together when you get off work later."


	17. Chapter 17

"So he's standing there staring off towards the front of the store, looking at God knows what and he didn't even see it coming." Nick was having a hard time holding back his laughter as he relayed the story to Sara about something that had happened on his shift.

Sara snorted out a laugh. "Goldfish?" The image being produced in her mind was priceless.

"Not just one goldfish, several hundred goldfish; down his shirt, in the pockets of his pants, I think he even found a couple in his shoes." Nick was snickering. "I'm not sure Greg will ever want to work with Warrick and I again just to get a little more overtime."

Sara quirked an eyebrow at Nick. "And this is how you solved your case?"

He smirked at her. "The poison the killer used on our vic, he put into the feeder fish tank of his pet shop. Unfortunately for him, the poison killed most of the fish in the tank and acted as a solvent on the sealant that held the fish tank together and when it gave way, Sanders had the unfortunate pleasure of being directly in front of it. I think he was still standing there with the side panel of plexi-glass resting on his shoulders well after the water and the fish had all rushed out."

"He could have been hurt." It occurred to Sara that if the glass had broken instead of just separating in a single panel the outcome might not have been as humorous. "Don't aquariums have a frame to stabilize the glass panels?"

"I suppose that's true if you purchase one, but apparently our killer thinks he's a handyman, he made the tank himself." Nick snorted out another laugh as the image of Greg's expression flitted through his mind. "Seriously, Sara, you should have seen Sanders…" Nick imitated the shocked look on Greg's face by widening his eyes and then opening and closing his mouth, much like a fish would.

Sara let out a giggle and then reached over and took Nick's hand, lacing her fingers with his. "I'm glad you came over." She smiled at him, feeling a flurry of butterflies in her stomach as she watched his face light up.

"I'm glad I came over too." His smile widened into a grin and then he leaned down and softly kissed her. He let out a soft chuckle as he pulled away. "Although, I had another offer that was rather tempting."

Sara feigned a scowl. "Who was more tempting?"

"Grissom." Nick tried to keep a straight face. "He thought I might be interested in helping to establish the entomological timeline for the body from your case."

Sara let out a soft groan. "He didn't." She made a mental note to kill Greg the next time she saw him for bringing up the subject with Grissom.

"He did." Nick smiled. "But I told him that while I was very interested, I had a previous engagement, and not even the enticement of beetle larvae could keep me away."

"Well, when you put it like that." Sara smirked. "Thanks." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Nick laughed. "Trust me, Sara, there is no danger of me _ever_ having the kind of love affair with bugs that Grissom does."

Sara wrinkled her nose. "And to think I thought I could compete with that." It was ironic really. Grissom was an utterly fascinating man, but in many ways his own fascination with insects was really a substitution for personal relationships in his life. Sara felt a sense of sadness for him on what he was missing out on.

Nick nudged her gently with his elbow. "No one can compete with that." He knew that she no longer had romantic feelings for Grissom, but sometimes he felt a pang of sadness for the time that she'd spent focusing on him, thinking that there was something wrong with her, when in reality, that was just the way Grissom was wired.

Sara furrowed her brow. "Let's not talk about Grissom." She had made up her mind before she'd invited Nick over as to how she wanted the night to end; only she wasn't exactly sure how to let him know that. She felt a flurry of butterflies in her stomach as she considered the implications of what she wanted to do.

"Ok." Nick smiled at her. In spite of the grueling shift he'd worked and how tired he felt, he really wanted to spend some quality time with Sara. "I have no problem _not_ talking about Grissom."

Sara giggled. "Good, because I'd hate to think you were thinking about _him_ when you were kissing _me_."

Nick had an odd expression on his face. "Darlin', I don't think there's _ever_ gonna be a danger of _that_ happenin'." His drawl was decidedly more pronounced than normal.

Sara arched a single brow at him as she leaned up to kiss him, mumbling against his lips. "Good."

It was several minutes later when the two finally pulled away from each other and it was because Nick had to stifle a yawn in the middle of a kiss.

Sara smirked at him. "It's nice to know you find my company so exciting…" She knew that he was tired and that he probably should have gone home rather than come over to spend time with her. He had to work again tomorrow and didn't have the advantage of having a night off.

"It's not that." Nick looked at her apologetically and yawned again. "I'm sorry, Sara." He was silently cursing himself for running out of steam. He furrowed his brow as he realized he probably should head home before he was too tired to drive.

"Don't be." She smiled at him as an idea formed in her mind. She leaned in and softly kissed him, taking his hand as she stood up from where they were sitting on the couch. "Maybe we should take this into the bedroom."

Nick wasn't sure he was hearing her correctly as he stood up. "Uh…it's not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't think I'm…"

Sara pressed her finger to his lips and looked into his eyes. "You're tired." A nervous smile flitted across her face. "I'm tired…I really didn't get a lot of sleep after I got off shift because I was looking forward to seeing you."

There was something about the way she was looking at him that made Nick realize that this wasn't going to be the kind of night he'd need a cold shower for after he got home. "You were?"

Sara nodded. "Yeah, I was." She smiled as she felt him squeeze her hand. "Why don't we get some sleep and…"

Nick leaned over and kissed her. "This wasn't exactly how I had envisioned getting to sleep with you."

Sara smiled at him softly. "Oh, and exactly how did you envision this event?" She began to lead him down the hall towards her bedroom.

Nick couldn't help but grin at her. "Well for starters, there was a whole lot less clothing involved." He found the slight blush in her cheeks endearing as they walked into her bedroom.

Sara pulled the comforter on her bed back and glanced over at Nick with a smile. "We might still have time for that." In truth, she was hoping that they'd have time for that and she'd prepared for it.

As her words registered in his mind, Nick briefly debated whether he should keep his jeans on or strip down to his boxers and t-shirt until he watched Sara shimmy out of her jeans and slip under the covers clad in a t-shirt and some very sexy underwear. His jeans quickly joined hers on the floor and he slipped under the covers next to her, smiling as she snuggled up next to him. "Are you sure about this, Sar?" His voice was a husky whisper.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Her smile was evident in her voice. "Now get some sleep, I want you well rested."

Nick chuckled at the amusement in her tone and it was then than he noticed the box of condoms sitting on her nightstand. "Yes ma'am."


	18. Chapter 18

Sara was surprised at how easily she fell asleep considering the level of anticipation she'd been feeling since she'd decided that this was the night she wanted to take her relationship with Nick to the next level. Within a few minutes of crawling under the covers and molding herself against Nick, she fell sound asleep.

Nick on the other hand, was exhausted but had difficultly letting himself relax enough to go to sleep, given what she'd just told him. So for a long time, he just lay there watching her sleep and stroking her hair as he memorized every nuance of her face. He'd never taken the time, or had the opportunity before to count the freckles that danced across her cheeks, or had really been able to appreciate up close and personal the way her eyelashes fanned out across her cheeks, or the way when she was like this she seemed the very antithesis of the strong spitfire of a woman he knew when she was awake. Here in the land of slumber she looked vulnerable and so feminine. Nick thought he could just about watch her sleep forever when he felt his eyelids start to get heavy and then he finally slipped off to sleep himself with visions of Sara dancing in his head.

Sara woke to a rather odd sensation, at least odd in her subconscious. She had the distinct impression that there was a hand splayed out across her abdomen and that there was a warm body spooned against hers underneath her comforter. It took her a few moments, but then as things started to slide together and wakefulness overtook her, a smile began to spread across her face at the fact that Nick had curled himself against her and put his arm around her as they'd slept. The fact that they'd _just _slept gave her a satisfaction that she really couldn't give a name to, as if just his presence there with her gave her a sense of security and belonging that she hadn't ever really had before. Nick was one of her best friends, he was her boyfriend and her smile widened a little more as she realized that very soon he would be her lover as well.

Nick nuzzled her ear as she began to stir. "Hey, beautiful." He'd come to the conclusion that despite what Sara would probably say, she was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever known, and her beauty went far more than skin deep.

Sara let out a contented sigh as she leaned back into him, letting her hand come to rest over his. "Hey." This felt so natural and so right to her just being there with him in the quiet of those first few moments of waking up and she realized that somewhere along the line, she'd begun falling for him and she determined that she was going to just let herself keep falling because she had confidence that this man was worth the risk.

"Did you sleep ok?" Nick whispered a bit huskily.

"Yeah. You?" Sara turned in his embrace, smiling as she looked into his eyes.

"Yeah." Nick's hand came to rest on her hip and he couldn't help but caress her skin as he leaned down and softly kissed her.

As he pulled away, Sara slid her hand up to the nape of his neck and pulled him back for another kiss. As she broke the kiss, she felt his arm slide around her waist, pulling her against his body. Sara's hands splayed out against his chest as she smiled at him. "I had some time to think yesterday…" She smirked at him and then glanced over at the box of condoms.

His eyes followed where hers were going and he let out a hearty chuckle. "Apparently. Nice guess on the size by the way."

She had a coy expression on her face. "It was an educated guess." She had certainly taken advantage of the opportunity afforded to her as his girlfriend to study the way his clothes clung to certain parts of his anatomy.

Nick laughed again and arched his brows suggestively as he pulled her a little closer, his hand slipping up the back of her t-shirt. "You've been checking me out." An observation the both pleased him and puffed up his ego a bit.

"Yes, I have." Sara smiled as she slid her arms over his shoulders and then in a bolder move, she slung her leg over his hip and then pulled him into a kiss.

Nick wasn't sure why he was so surprised at the fire in her kiss and then when he began to return it with equal fervor, Sara suddenly pulled back. Nick quirked an eyebrow at her curiously. "Anything wrong?" He sincerely hoped that she wasn't having second thoughts now.

Sara shook her head and whispered huskily. "No." A smile played out over her lips and passion burned in her eyes as she looked at him. "I want you to make love to me, Nicky."

"I want you so much." Nick needed no further encouragement as their lips connected again in a hungry kiss.

There was no rushing in their movements, each of them wanted to savor the moment, to savor the sensations as they discovered each other in a new way. Soft touches gave way to gentle caresses and then more deliberate ministrations. Hungry kisses turned into a passion infused ones. And then the moment, the sweet moment came and it felt like heavenly bliss.

Sara lay there in Nick's arms, their legs tangled intimately together as the waves of pleasure began to ebb. She wasn't sure she'd ever really experienced anything like this before. Certainly she'd had her fair share of sex, but never in the context of a relationship where she felt truly respected, truly cared about. The experience for her had been unparalleled.

Nick could not erase the dopey grin from his face as his fingers trailed up and down Sara's back. In a word, he thought that she was amazing. Not because of what they'd just experienced together, but because he was definitely falling hard for her; probably already _had_ fallen for her and he just couldn't stop smiling.

They both probably would have kept laying there underneath the covers like that indefinitely if the shrill ring of a cell phone coming from the general direction of Nick's pants hadn't intruded on the blissful silence.

"You should get that." Sara insisted knowing that it was probably work and since it was only a few hours until the start of Nick's shift he really should be getting up and getting ready to go soon anyway.

"Maybe they'll go away." Nick grumbled good naturedly as he reached his hand around the floor until he came up with his phone, still in firmly in its holster on his belt which was attached to his jeans. He smirked as he pulled the phone off and dropped his pants. "Stokes."

Sara wasn't sure why, but she felt compelled at that moment to begin kissing her way up his neck towards his earlobe. Regardless of the fact that she knew he was going to have to leave soon, she really didn't want him to go quite yet.

"Rick, I completely forgot. I'm sorry man." He let out a chuckle as Sara was doing her best to try and distract him. "Uh, no, I'm not at home right now…" Apparently, Warrick was sitting in Nick's driveway wondering why he wasn't ready to go hit the batting cages before work. He chuckled again. "Yes, and she's a hell of a lot better looking than you too, but I'll tell her you said 'hi'." Nick ended the call and quirked an eyebrow at Sara who had finally stopped kissing his neck to look into his eyes. "Warrick says 'hi'."

"I gathered as much." She smirked and molded herself a little closer to Nick. "I take it you forgot you had a previous engagement?" She hoped that Nick might be convinced to stay a little longer.

"But not a more important one." Nick smiled at her before resting his hand on her hip and rolling her onto her back. "I still have a few of hours before I have to be at work…"

His implication was clear and Sara smiled as she reached up and cupped the back of his head, pulling him down into a soft sensuous kiss

**Author's Note:** Now I know some of you may find yourselves disappointed at the lack of 'details' in this chapter, but I wanted to keep the story within its current rating. Besides, I'm sure your imaginations are so much better at filling in the blanks than any words could be.


	19. Chapter 19

**Six months later:**

Sara had a smile on her face that she didn't think even the most gruesome crime scene could erase from it as she walked into the lab that night for work. She made her way to the locker room to hang up her coat and collect her gear before the briefing for the evening's shift would begin.

Sophia glanced up as Sara walked in. "You look like you had a good night off." She was standing in front of her own locker stowing some personal items before shift.

There was no way that Sara was going to deny it. "As a matter of fact I did." She'd had the previous evening off and it had been memorable to say the least.

Sophia's interest was piqued. "Do tell." The two women had been getting to know each other better as they had the occasion to work cases together and the older CSI had observed a remarkable change in Sara ever since she'd told her exactly how she thought Gil Grissom viewed her. Not only had she started dating Nick Stokes, she'd become a much more confident woman who wasn't afraid to tell him exactly what she was thinking. The result had been a very strong and solid relationship; it was evident that Nick adored her.

Sara's smile softened as she closed her locker and she held out her left hand for Sophia to inspect. "Nick proposed."

Sophia let out a soft laugh as she looked closely at the diamond engagement ring on Sara's hand. "He's a lucky guy."

"I think I'm pretty lucky too." Sara remarked looking down at the ring that Nick had picked out himself. The thought occurred to her that the woman standing next to her was partially responsible for the circumstance that she was in and she felt a surge of gratefulness as she looked up at Sophia. "Thank you."

Sophia was taken a little aback. "Why thank me?" She had only told Sara the truth; she hadn't been responsible for setting her up with Nick.

Sara smirked a little. "Because you told me what I needed to hear, not necessarily what I wanted to hear and it moved me in a direction to move on. I want to thank you for that." Sara let out a laugh. "If I hadn't been so irritated by what you'd said, I wouldn't have ended up in that bookstore and I wouldn't have found that book."

Sophia smiled. "I'm glad."

The moment was interrupted as Greg burst into the locker room, cheesy grin adorning his face, and then walked over to Sara and swept her into a hug, picking her up off of her feet in the process. "I hear that congratulations are in order."

Sara laughed. "Yes, thank you." She and Greg had become good friends and she'd developed a deep respect for him as she'd seen him grow not only as a CSI, but as a man. He and Tiffany were still dating, and the way he put it, they were on the slow steady track; he wanted to do things right because he was convinced that she was 'it'.

As Greg put her down he spoke to her conspiratorially. "I'm so glad he finally proposed to you, do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a secret like that from you?"

Sara looked at him wide-eyed and her jaw dropped a little. "You knew?"

Greg grinned. "Yes I knew. I actually went with him when he picked out your ring because I was picking out something myself; only I haven't had the nerve to ask her yet."

"Greg!" Sara was excited and shocked all at the same time and she couldn't help but stand there with her mouth hanging open.

Sophia smirked. "I'm starting to feel a little left out." There was a teasing tone in her voice; she'd been seeing a professor of English Literature over at Western LVU for a while and neither one of them seemed to be in a hurry to make the situation permanent.

"Ok, let's have a group hug." Greg slung an arm over each of their shoulders and gave them each a squeeze.

Just then, Grissom walked into the locker room in search of his nightshift crew; he quirked an eyebrow at the trio wondering exactly what they were doing.

"Uh, we're just having a little team bonding, Grissom." Greg offered by way of explanation.

"Well why don't you bond yourselves down to the briefing room?" Grissom had a boyish smirk on his face as he regarded them over the rim of his glasses.

"Grissom." Sara interjected with a smile. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She really didn't want him to hear through the grapevine that Nick had proposed to her and they had agreed that she would be the one to tell him since it was likely that she would be the first one to see him.

There was something about the look on her face that gave Grissom both a sinking feeling and a surge of pride. He'd had a feeling that this day was coming, and he was happy for her, he really was; but he was also sad for himself that he couldn't get past his own fears to enjoy what she'd ultimately found with Nick. He'd spied the ring on her finger almost as soon as he'd walked into the room. He quirked an eyebrow at her as Greg and Sophia filed out of the locker room. "When did he propose?"

A smile pulled at the corners of Sara's mouth; of course he would have seen the ring; how could someone _not_ notice it? "Last night."

"Congratulations, Sara. I'm sure you two will be very happy." The sincerity in his voice shocked him a little and a half smile tugged at his lips. He knew that Nick really would make her happy and as long as she was happy, he could be happy for her.

"I'm sure we will too." Sara glanced down at her ring before looking up at Grissom again. "I was hoping that you might give me away...since I don't really have any family." She was thankful that the friendship she'd once had with Grissom when she first came to Vegas had survived her fixation on him and that they had finally recovered some of what had been lost for a time.

Grissom smiled at her. "Sara, _this_ is your family." He knew he'd told her many times that the lab needed her, but in reality, she needed the lab because it wasn't just a lab, it was filled with people that had formed a family of sorts, and for some of them it was the only real family they had.

"You're right." She agreed and then smiled wider as she noticed that Nick had stopped just outside the doorway to the locker room with a look of anticipation on his face. "You can come in, Nick."

"Did you ask him?" Nick couldn't help but smile as he looked at her, still trying to fathom that she'd actually said that she wanted to marry him and feeling like the luckiest man on the planet because of it.

"Yes." Sara nodded as Nick walked towards her, leaning up to place a quick kiss on his lips in greeting.

Nick was grinning from ear to ear, slinging an arm across Sara's shoulders as he looked over to Grissom. "So you'll give her away then?" He knew that this was probably more difficult for his mentor that he'd ever admit, but he hoped for Sara's sake that Grissom would agree to walk her down the aisle.

Grissom's smile was genuine and he could see how excited both Nick and Sara were at the prospect of marrying each other. "It would be my pleasure."

_**The End**_

**Author's Note:** Thank you to all of my readers. I'm glad that you took the time to read my story. Perhaps one day I'll feel ready to write a real novel after practicing on all of you. Special thanks to Laura Katharine for sailing her ship with pride while at the same time offering kind words as I sail mine. Thanks to Mel for making me laugh...you never know when something that glows in the dark just might show up.


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